ozphotoreview

Video Transcending Difficulties of Its Making

2011-10-21T09:03:00.000-07:00

A Tyrant's Departure - Democratically Observed

Happier Times - Qaddafi with France's President Sarkozy

Muammar el-Qaddafi’s death in Sirte on October 20th brought an instant glimpse into the world’s medieval past – with a death seen as initially sudden, then as grotesquely paraded as any execution centuries ago in Elizabethan Tudor England might have been. Being hung, drawn and quartered could have been a more formal way of dying than that finally experienced by Muammar el-Qaddafi, as witnessed in intricate, ghastly detail on the internet (and seen briefly on the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/world/africa/qaddafi-is-killed-as-libyan-forces-take-surt.html before being withdrawn). Terrible images, jaggedly observed by phone video, somehow suggested, in one contradictory sequence, that Qaddafi was being cradled as any casualty of war, but with his death imminent, so serious were his visible head wounds.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2052178/GADDAFI-DEATH-VIDEO-Moment-Libyan-dictator-killed-bullet-head.html The former Libyan leader’s shining, profusely shed blood, lit by sunlight falling on the careening vehicle in which the Colonel was being transported, suggested the final assault on his life had occurred only minutes before. But as the chaotic, shuddering camerawork deteriorated to something below sub-competence, did the Libyan leader’s head then seem to move slightly to indicate he still lived? The camera then panned away to a meaningless, blurry traveling shot of rapidly receding sand accompanied by a sound track of crackling gunfire, heard against frequent Arabic cries proclaiming the greatness of Allah, apparently from an ecstatic young man with a pronounced gap between http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb82x9nvug8&feature=player_embedded#t=45s his front teeth, whom we later glimpse several more times. As the camera's angle swerved further away from the vehicle, the youth’s cries were drowned out by more gunfire from automatic weapons. (Has anyone else noticed that insurgents, especially during the Arab Spring, seem to have inexhaustible supplies of bullets, so fond are they of firing triumphant volleys into thin air.) This phone video, shot with as much discrimination as the random aerial gunfire, now slowly panned back and addressed the stricken leader who raises and inspects his bloodstained hand. Attempting to pause this chaotic footage did not help in my understanding of the ex-President’s dire predicament, but the video did succeed, with its crude visual style, in making me realize I had witnessed a shift in history - a tyrant’s departure, rendered with none of the skill we have come to expect from renowned conflict photographers such as David Dare Parker http://www.daviddareparker.com/ , Don McCullin http://www.contactpressimages.com/photographers/mccullin/mccullin_bio.html and Steve Dupont http://www.stephendupont.com/ for example. There was, however, an impressionistic veracity that was difficult to question. Here was death, democratically rendered by phone video (as indeed it had been throughout the Arab Spring) with no concern for sentimentality, cinematic skill or even rudimentary composition. For more coverage of the video and the public's response see http://christwire.org/2011/10/youtube-gaddafi-death-video-is-causing-some-controversy/ Even so, the sequence was still profoundly shocking, transcending any ‘compassion fatigue’ we may feel for arenas of global suffering in general - and this once seemingly intransigent conflict, in particular. This unvarnished footage conveyed the death of a leader, one of several Middle East rulers who have made a habit of publicly shooting their own dissident citizens - but this time killed by his own subjects. “Those who live by the sword …shall die by the sword … ” wandered into my thoughts, for a moment. But in the rawness of its video witness, this unforgettable sequence amplified the reality of his passing and made an ongoing human tragedy more real. The savagery of revenge meted out to Qaddafi also suggested that perhaps a dispassionate, painstakingly legal trial would have been more beneficial in the long run for Libya - instead of an impatient, brutal death delivered with such obvious relish by his opponents.

Text Copyright Robert McFarlane 2011 www.robertmcfarlanephotos.com

Brummels Lives! Planetary Views, Digital Silver Printing, McCullin's Words & Fujifilm's X10

2011-10-18T21:34:00.000-07:00

The Spirit of Brummels - and Rennie Ellis - endures.

Monash Gallery of Art http://www.mga.org.au/ are mounting a survey of the content and enduring influence of Brummels photography gallery (arguably Australia's first - the Australian Centre for Photography would open a year later, in 1973 ) Brummels paved the way for the current wave of excellent commercial exhibiting spaces throughout Australia now showing photography as fine-art. The late Rennie Ellis (1940-2003), www.rennieellis.com.au/ that compulsive diarist and charismatic observer of the Australian way of life, foresaw photography's coming prominence as a dynamic art form and founded Brummels, sited above a restaurant of the same name, in Toorak Road, South Yarra, Melbourne in 1972. Ellis maintained that photography had long been neglected in Australia as a form of artistic expression and Brummels would, he said "continue a trend that is widely accepted in London, New York, San Francisco and Amsterdam where photography galleries had been popular for several years." Brummels, under Ellis and Assistant Director, fellow photographer Robert Ashton, quickly became a social arena in which many now legendary Australian photographers showed their work for the first time. The late Carol Jerrems (pictured, above right) appears at her exhibition at Brummels in 1975 ( in a photograph taken by Ellis) as a stylish, confident young woman wearing a loosely tied blouse, black leather boots, frayed denim shorts - caught returning the photographer's gaze with her characteristic aura of opacity and charm. Indeed Ellis's observations of Brummels at MGA capture the gallery's Seventies social ambience and suggest strongly their exhibiting photographers took their work seriously, but not themselves. Ellis's eye for the bizarre captures three very diverse photographers - Jerrems, the late Athol Shmith and Rob Imhoff (wearing a set of clearly faux front teeth) locked in an awkward embrace at the gallery. Brummels Gallery was eventually compelled to seek sponsorship from Pentax, becoming the Pentax Brummels Gallery before finally closing its doors in 1980. If you want to see ample visual evidence of a new wave of Australian photography that then included artists such as Jon Rhodes, Wesley Stacey, Sue Ford, George Gittoes, Ponch Hawkes, Ian Dodd with seminal works by other established figures such as David Moore http://www.davidmoorephotography.com.au/ (his "Landscape Nude 1" is pictured, above, left) and Henry Talbot, the comfortable drive to Monash Gallery of Art at Wheeler's Hill is a must. In an appropriate coincidence, noted film-maker and photographer Paul Cox (who opened Brummels first show in 1972) will also open the MGA exhibition on October 22. Until January 22nd, 2012.

Late News:

Gordon Undy opens at Point Light

"Sundown, North Stradbroke Island 2011" By Gordon Undy

Well, why wouldn't he be at Point Light Gallery? As a card-carrying, traditional analogue photographer and co-founder (with wife Lyndell) of this influential, welcoming Sydney space http://www.pointlight.com.au/ Undy has championed the virtues of photography drawn from it's distant origins - Albumen, Salt prints, POP paper, and of course classic fibre-based Silver printing. Mention digital photography to Undy and it's a little like asking the Devil to afternoon tea. (though ironically the veteran gallerist recently delighted in revealing to me the fine photographic performance of his Apple iPhone.) When I looked at the first pictures sent to me from the gallery I thought one (pictured, above) was of the underbelly of some vast sea creature, witnessed far too intimately by Undy. Such are the illusionist tendencies of photography - but I soon reconciled it to be a landscape, transformed by the simplest, most abbreviated of compositions. Until November 13
Larcombe's "Beneath The Square Mile" opens in Adelaide

Accomplished Adelaide documentary and corporate photographer Randy Larcombe http://www.randylarcombe.com.au/ is drawn to revealing the hidden skeins of energy that flow beneath our city streets and make 21st century life possible."Beneath the Square Mile" at AP BOND Gallery http://www.apbond.com/ documents the network of subterranean electricity power stations that, says Larcombe, "we walk over every day. There are sixty substations in the (Adelaide) city square mile. I am fascinated by this and want to reveal the unseen, the hidden infrastructure our lives are reliant on." Larcombe's photographs (pictured, above and right) immaculately render, in colour, these hidden, labyrinthine refuges of seemingly opaque technology where one false, uninformed step might lead to disaster. They also reminded me a little of the melancholy documentation of the remaining control rooms at Chernobyl and their basic use of blatantly 20th century technology. Until October 29th.
The Nikon AIPP Caravan Comes to Adelaide

Photojournalist Michael Coyne on location with his Fujifilm X100

As a part of the comprehensive Nikon AIPP Fringe Event www.aipptheevent.com.au/ in Adelaide, there will be a screening on Saturday, October 22nd at the Mercury Theatre, Morphett Street, Adelaide of two very different, important films on photography - Annie Leibovitz' "Life Through A Lens" and Edward Burtynsky's "Manufactured Landscapes." This will be followed by talks given by four photographers - David Dare Parker www.daviddareparker.com/ Michael Coyne, (pictured, above) http://www.michaelcoyne.com.au/ Randy Larcombe http://www.randylarcombe.com.au/ and Robert McFarlane www.robertmcfarlanephotos.com. Parker will discuss the growing importance of photofestivals, such as Ballarat (BIFFO) http://www.ballaratfoto.org/ FOTOFREO http://www.fotofreo.com/ and HeadOn http://headon.com.au/ The remaining three will discuss projects they have or are currently, working on. Bookings can only be made through Milton Wordley http://wordley.com.au/ at milt@southlight.com.au and the cost includes a fine lunch. Full details of the AIPP's many other speakers - including David Burnett and Jenny Brockie can be obtained from the Australian Institute of Professional Photographers (AIPP) website (above)
Two Important Sydney Gatherings this week.

Mary Meyer http://www.meyergallery.com.au/ and Sandy Edwards www.arthere.com.au/ are inviting photographers and their associates to an urgent meeting this coming Thursday, October 20th at 6.30 pm at Syndicate, 2 Danks Street, Waterloo hosting an open discussion on "Photography's Place in Australian Culture", which will be chaired by prominent documentary photographers Juno Gemes and Dean Sewell. "It's time," they say, "to talk about the big picture and set in place a strategic framework as a response to (Federal Minister for the Arts) Simon Crean's proposals on creating a National Cultural Policy.", as outlined in the discussion paper at http://culture.arts.gov.au/discussion-paper What makes this meeting especially urgent is that ten weeks ago the Government has set a deadline for submissions to be in by midnight this Friday, October 21st. Sadly, I was unaware of this, which makes any submissions both urgent and important. Full details of how and where to make submissions can be found at the Government Website (above)and it is expected the meeting will create an agreed proposal to be put to government.

Tedeschi to speak on Illusion & Allusion at AGNSW

"Apotheosis" by Mark Tedeschi

Differences between truth and fiction occupy much of Mark Tedeschi's time during his daily work as a Crown Prosecutor in NSW Law Courts. But Tedeschi is also literate in truths of a more elusive, visual kind. As an accomplished photographer, represented by the Josef Lebovic Gallery at www.joseflebovicgallery.com.au Tedeschi has consistently been exploring allegory and metaphor in his pictures and regards "photography is an exceptionally versatile art-form for conveying emotional subject matter, subtle meanings and profound, underlying connections between elements." Tedeschi will be speaking at 6.30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 19th in the Centenary Auditorium at the Art Gallery of NSW www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/ and bookings (on 02 9225 1878) are essential. Refreshments will be served.

Seeing Beyond Infinity - Fredericks' SALT Project at ACP

Murray Fredericks' tent and bicycle base-camp at Lake Eyre

The suite of pictures (pictured, above) created by Murray Fredericks during seven years of visiting Lake Eyre dislocates most orthodox expectations about landscape photography. No single dynamic visual element intrudes into the foreground - indeed there is little sense of separation between foreground and background in many pictures. Fredericks www.murrayfredericks.com.au/ pays seamless homage to space and light in these photographs and departs markedly from any familiar landscape photography influences. The three common elements in the SALT Project 1993-2010, on display at the Australian Centre for Photography www.acp.org.au/ from October 14th are space, light and of course colour. In addressing these constants, Murray Fredericks (pictured, right) goes beyond conventional artistic aspirations to produce spectacular imagery emanating a curious mix of splendour and humility. How can you not look at this photographer's picture of star trails arcing across the heavens above a seemingly alien, arid plain - and not sense our fragile standing within this planetary home - as well as humanity's unique ability to know its tiny place in the Universe? In the SALT Project 1993-2010, and its companion body of work HECTOR, on exhibition at

Sydney's Annandale Galleries www.annandalegalleries.com.au/ Murray Fredericks transcends most fundamental verities of landscape photography - while addressing a common ambition of visual artists - to depict the skin that light gives to their subjects. If SALT is about limitless plains and skies, then HECTOR reveals the sky's incomparable power, when convulsed by weather.(pictured, above) Using black and white photography's unique luminousity and tonality, instead of SALT's subtle colour, Fredericks again addresses vistas far greater than ourselves - the legendary storms that rage through skies above Northern Australia."HECTOR draws its title from an affectionately named atmospheric phenomenon that produces (some of) the world's biggest thunderstorms over the Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin," explains Fredericks. In HECTOR, this photographer shows us, as eloquently as in SALT, a very different, voluble sky - caught raging above distant, northern seas. At the Australian Centre for Photography until November 19th and Annandale Galleries until their Summer Closing in December.

Blanco Negro introduces Digital Silver Printing

For those of us who have embraced the digital revolution and thought any silver printing we might do in future would be from our archive of old, familiar black and white negatives - not so! Sydney's fine B&W processing lab Blanco Negro www.blanconegro.com.au/ are introducing archival, fibre-based silver gelatin printing from digital files. Blanco Negro's director and master printer Chris Reid recently announced that they have acquired a De Vere 504DS Digital Enlarger. "Put simply," says Reid, "this enlarger replaces a conventional negative carrier with a high resolution Liquid Crystal Display that simulates a negative. The enlarger's computer then converts digital files into a virtual negative on the LCD panel, through which light is projected." Reid adds reassuringly that "the De Vere enlarger can then project the image on to the base-board in the same way a film enlarger projects a negative. The image to be printed can be focused, sized and cropped in the same way as in a conventional enlarger, with contrast being controlled both in Photoshop and the enlarger's dichroic filters."
POSTSCRIPT: As good and truly archivally lasting as today's current generation of prints made by digital inkjet printers are (check http://www.wilhelm-research.com/ if you need reassuring) there is an unmistakable feel, (patina if you will) about silver gelatin prints - and some art galleries and museums simply prefer "silver" because familiarity with this now-ancient print-making process has brought not contempt, but respect. I would imagine (and I have not yet consigned any of my digital B&W images to this printing process) it could prove to be a very seductive exercise. Blanco Negro's Carisse Flanagan adds "now the desktop and darkroom can be as one."
Blanco Negro will be exhibiting examples of digital images printed on silver gelatin by some of Australia’s finest photographers including Stephen Dupont, Andrew Quilty and Benjamin Ong. From October 13

Digital Gets Serious With The Street

Fujifilm's recently announced X10

Nikon Vi System 1 camera

In creating cameras such as the Canon Powershot G12, Nikon's P7100 and more recently, Fujfilm's X100, camera manufacturers are finally acknowledging that photographers who want to document life as inconspicuously as possible need compact, high quality cameras with wide, fast lenses - and most importantly viewfinders. Nikon www.nikon.com.au/ have just announced their "1 System", notably, the Nikon V1 with built-in viewfinder (pictured, right) as part of their new, remarkable mirrorless interchangeable lens system. Equally recently, Fujifilm www.fujifilm.com.au/ have introduced a new camera - the X10 - with great similarities to the X100, but which now features an even wider, fast lens (28f2) which zooms to medium telephoto.For anyone who grew up photographing with rangefinder cameras such as the Leica M series, the Canon 7 www.canon.com.au/ and Nikon's SP, cameras such as the Fujifilm X100 exude a certain familiarity - possessing a fast, exquisitely sharp lens (at every aperture) and classic rangefinder responsiveness - but with digital's imaging facility. These may turn out to be the good old days - it is, after all, the image that counts and these new cameras improve picture-making.

Don McCullin Unloads


Don McCullin, London, 1969

In a revealing interview sent to me by fine-art still-life photographer Anna-Maryke Grey, CNN's Mairi Mackay http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/08/world/europe/don-mccullin-war-photography/index.html interviews celebrated war photographer Don McCullin http://www.contactpressimages.com/photographers/mccullin/mccullin_bio.html who speaks candidly, at length, of his experiences as one of the great survivors of documenting armed conflict in the 20th Century. McCullin, whom I photographed in 1969 ( pictured left) when we were both covering British Heavyweight boxer Henry Cooper's last fight for different London newspapers, remains mystified about the reasons for man's in humanity to man, but as committed as ever to passionately exploring his photography. In the CNN interview he also discussed his recent, poetic and seemingly atypical documentation of the last architectural traces of the ancient Roman Empire in his book, Southern Frontiers. As McCullin enters his eighth decade, it is also worth noting that if French doctor Bernard Kouchner (who worked for the Red Cross during the Biafran War) had not been so moved after seeing an achingly sad McCullin 1969 picture of starving African albino children in Biafra (pictured) we perhaps would not have had the incomparable (but necessarily apolitical) humanitarian organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres.http://www.msf.org.au/
Text Copyright Robert McFarlane 2011 www.robertmcfarlanephotos.com

The Divinity Is In The Detail

2011-08-29T04:18:00.000-07:00

BIFFO IS BOFFO at BALLARAT

To paraphrase legendary U.S. showbiz newspaper, VARIETY, the Ballarat International Photo Biennale's program is "Boffo", according to BIFFO, as the Biennale http://www.ballaratfoto.org/

appears to want to be called. The core program appears to have something for everyone - from the melancholy, richly ochred, erotic images of Czech masters Jan and Sarah Saudek to an influential British photographer from the 1960's Brian Duffy (1933-2010) who I thought had been forgotten. During my five years in London in the early 1970's, I quickly discovered Duffy was a key figure in British editorial photography but all too often pigeonholed as solely a fashion photographer. This display at BIFFO reveals Duffy as a man who seemed to effortlessly inform his fashion photography with the visual grammar of photojournalism but could also turn either to documentary observation (witness his resonant B&W picture of one of the notorious Kray twins) or startling, stylised portraiture - as this image (pictured, above) of David Bowie shows. Australia is also well served by the talented images present by John Gollings, Frances Mocnik, Heather Dinas (pictured, right) and Jack Picone (pictured, left, an observation from Picone's Nuba essay). There was also work by a photographer whose pictures arrested me for their perfect expression of perhaps the most difficult form of adventurism of all - mountaineering. Alfred Gregory's timeless image of a distant line of climbers bypassing a vast crevasse (pictured, above right) is surely one of most definitive images drawn from this challenging vocation. Frances Mocnik also challenges viewers in a different way with her visual essay exploring death and rituals associated with dying in her remarkable suite of B&W images "The Night That Follows Day". And this is only the core program at BIFFO. Another 70 photographers are showing their work in this Biennale. Clearly, a journey to Ballarat will prove rewarding and should not be missed. Until September 18

William Yang: A Perfect Witness for Pina Bausch

During the 1982 Adelaide Festival of Arts http://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/ William Yang documented two performances by the dance company of the late Pina Bausch (1940-2009) , capturing the elusive and enigmatic camera-shy choreographer's "Kontakthof" and "1980". (pictured, above and right) Yang's extensive experience in documentary and theatre photography enabled him to capture intimate and inspiring moments between Bausch and the performers as she directed two of her greatest works. Yang commented "In an interview she was asked how she chose her dancers, and her reply, as I remember was – if I could somehow love them. Her work had a huge impact on me. It was the first time I fully engaged with a dance work, albeit dance theatre, on a level of feeling, emotion and intellect.” Yang has also created an unsurpassed archive of photographs documenting Sydney social life with a strong emphasis on Sydney's artistic and gay community - as well as the Chinese presence in Australia. In the last two decades he has also made photography as a performance on stage his own, with his best known work "Sadness" (1992) being made into a film by Tony Ayres in 1999. The Sydney Opera House are exhibiting Yang's photographs in the Western Foyer during its astonishingly diverse Spring Dance 2011 Season. William Yang will give a talk on September 3 following Pina Bausch: A Celebration. http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/whatson/pina_a_celebration.aspx
Philip Quirk Sees The Big Picture

By photographing the opposing northern and southern facades of Oxford Street, Paddington, Philip Quirk http://www.philipquirk.com/pqp/ is addressing that broadest common denominator of civic life - the street. One only has to look at the remains of life in Pompeii or the avenues of great lost cities recently documented by famed war photographer Don McCullin in his book "Southern Frontiers", http://www.suite101.com/content/southern-frontiers-by-don-mccullin-reviewed-a206215 to realise the street - either now or two thousand years ago - defines our daily existence.

"Oxford Street, Crossing William St, Paddington" by Philip Quirk

''People use the street for their specific needs," Quirk told the Sydney Morning Herald's Linda Morris recently, "whether (it is) for business, pleasure, shopping or traversing the suburbs.They become familiar with the street and presume it will remain the same but change is inevitable and ongoing. The more we use our streets, the less we see them as they are.'' In "Oxford Street Profile", the accomplished Sydney photojournalist presents

the popular Sydney avenue in amazing detail. (eschewing digital, Quirk recorded his scenes using a 5"x4" sheet film-fuelled view camera) "I was amazed by how much information a 5"x4" negative contained" says Quirk. This photographer also avoided the current trend (whether using scanned film images or digitally shot files) of using software to neatly stitch together his progressively taken street scenes (pictured, above) The results have an unlikely spontaneity and are printed as a sequential strip of images which are available as a single, concertina-folded book. In creating this project, Quirk acknowledges inspiration from Ed Ruscha's 1966 documentation of every building on Sunset Strip, West Hollywood, California http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/sunset-strip/images/2/ Quirk's take on Oxford Street is now on view, appropriately, at the Barometer Gallery,13 Gurner Street, Paddington and can also be seen online at http://www.oxfordstreetprofile.com/ This exhibition has been produced in conjunction with the Josef Lebovic Gallery www.joseflebovicgallery.com/ Until September 5.

Photographic Books Are Changing

In producing his recent book, "PORTRAITS FROM THE EDGE - PUTTING A FACE TO CLIMATE CHANGE", photographer Jon Lewis http://www.jonnylewis.org/ continues his long committment to photographing some of the crucial social and environmental issues of our time. (Lewis was involved with the early years of Greenpeace http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/en/ in their campaign against whaling, for example) The new book is interesting for a number of reasons - it shows that Lewis has extended his documentary vision to exploring more fluid, spontaneous observations as well as producing his characteristic, confronting portraiture in which subjects address the lens very directly. This approach works well with the citizens of Kiribati, one of the first Pacific island communities to be affected negatively by global warming. In this book, with beautiful reproduction and production by Momento (details from two double page spreads, pictured) Lewis presents Kiribati's citizens unvarnished and unstereotyped - working, playing and leaving the viewer with a sense of the unique rhythm and nature of islander life. This book is also an example of the new publishing and printing techniques being currently pioneered by organisations such as Momento and Blurb http://au.blurb.com/ where the cost and practicality of publishing a book are managed by digital publishing - i.e., cutting your cloth by simply producing one, a hundred or a thousand books - whatever the budget allows. Lewis's book was one of several prize-winning books acknowledged during the recent Head On Festival. Details of the winners can be found at http://momentopro.com.au/photobookawards
The Sue Ford Archive is Online

I recently received a note from Ben Ford, the son of Sue Ford (1943-2009) to let me know that her photographic archive was now online at http://www.sueford.com.au/ The Melbourne woman (pictured, right) was a force in Australian photography for several decades and her untimely death robbed our photographic community of a passionate artist who possessed a vivid, poetic vision. Ford's elapsed portraits, showing the changes in a subject's face after as little as a decade, form an important element within the history of Australian fine-art photography. For those wishing to explore her remarkable life's work, including her film-making and photo-media, this evolving website is most welcome.
The Occasional, Irresistable Photograph

David Flanagan http://www.davidflanagan.com.au/ is one of the quiet achievers of Australian photography - dedicated to landscape photography during the era in which Richard Woldendorp h ttp://www.richardwoldendorp.com/ has set the standard for all. However Flanagan follows his own vision, establishing a way of seeing that I first encountered and reviewed at Marrickville's Addison Road Community Art Gallery http://www.addisonrdcentre.com.au/ in Sydney. Like Woldendorp, Flanagan is sensitive to the anthropomorphic, sculptural forms within the Australian landscape (pictured, right) but the vision he explores is expressed in subtle black and white, whereas Woldendorp's vision seems mostly committed to colour. Flanagan's elegant way of seeing also seems fraternal with pioneer U.S. aerial master photographer William Garnett (1916-2006) http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/09/obituaries/09garnett.html whose B&W photographs revealed the sensual forms that can emerge from the planet's surface when seen at altitude.

Cindy Sherman Tops The Bill.
A 1981 Colour Copier Print by Cindy Sherman, "Untitled 96" (pictured, above) has established the highest price - $USD 3,890,500 - ever paid for a photograph at auction, eclipsing Andreas Gursky's "99 Cents II, 2001" which sold for $USD 3,346,456 at Sotheby's in London in 2007. Sherman's photograph was sold at Christies to prominent New York art dealer Phillipe Segalot. The picture's former owners had bought the Sherman print as one of an edition of ten in 1981, when the American artist's career was in its infancy. As an artist, Sherman plays an intriguing game with her audience - presenting herself as the central archetype in tableaux meant to illuminate and parody the transience of fame - the kind of notoriety so efficiently purveyed by American media, especially Hollywood. But look carefully at a Sherman image and the joke she is playing with the viewer can be seen, shimmering just beneath the surface. I confess to first being underwhelmed and singularly unimpressed by this artist's imagery until I saw a relatively unkown work of hers at Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art at Circular Quay. Instead of drawing from her more familiar faux Hollywood film stills imagery, Sherman presented herself as no less the mother of the Messiah, seen firmly balancing her infant in her arms - the chosen one. This photograph heavily referenced religious art but her meaning seemed clear: there was, in this essentially unremarkable looking woman, always the possibility of divinity - and in this image Sherman firmly pricked fame's bubble.

Helpless In The Presence of Beauty

Wal Richards led a blameless, simple life in historic Maryborough in Victoria. http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2011/08/10/3290337.htm Physically and mentally disabled from birth, he was remembered by residents fondly as a lonely character who always dressed neatly and could often be seen standing beside his bike at a place in the town known as Moore's Corner. Richards was also a perennial presence at local weddings."He was part of the town. Wal used to deliver messages ... simple things ... (because) he couldn't read or write. He was a man of very few words but who (still) understood money." remembers Betty Osborn, the secretary of the town's historical society."He used to visit old Mrs Chadwick and get the names of who were getting married. She would (also) tell Wal how to get to the churches and he often cycled over thirty kilometers to Avoca and places like that. There wasn't a wedding around Maryborough unless Wal was there." But the secretary of the Maryborough Historical Society http://home.vicnet.net.au/~mbhs/ also recalled the surprise, when Richards died in 1996, of discovering thousands of wedding photos, spanning five decades, as no one in Maryborough (ever) thought he had film in his camera. "Everyone put up with Wal ... he was at one of my daughter's weddings and I remember him shaking quite a lot ... when I knew him in the 70's, 80's and 90's Wal shook so badly we just did not think he (could have had) a film in his camera. But when his photos were discovered, after he died, in packing cases in a shed in his backyard, we were amazed. Everyone had seen Wal at the weddings, and (we found) most of his photos were quite interesting, because people didn't realise they were being photographed. So they were more natural." No one, not even his relatives, knew why Richards photographed so many weddings. "I think he just loved the occasion," suggested Osborn, "perhaps the girl all dressed for the event mesmerized him. But he never spoke to anyone. And after a while the wedding photographers that were there realised Wal had to have his turn, too, and they were very good (about it). But no one took him really seriously." Osborn added that only yesterday a woman visited the Historial Society who had been married in Maryborough in 1963. Knowing Wal had been at the wedding, she asked, 'do you have a photo?' "I told her we had over 20,000 pictures," said the secretary, "and only some had been identified. I handed her one album and believe it or not, she found her wedding photo. And it's the only photo she has of her wedding! The beauty of Wal Richards' shots was that he just caught it ... " Wal Richards was 67 when he died in 1996.
POSTSCRIPT:

The photographs of Wal Richards (pictured, left, in Betty's Osborn's photograph) are perhaps the perfect expression of an obsessive, intuitive, photographer who possessed little technical skill, but was still able to divine a woman's beauty on that most symbolic of days. There is also an almost autistic feeling of "otherness"within these pictures - that Richards is compulsively observing a world he senses he may never enter, but whose emotional importance he feels he must acknowledge with his camera.
The Poetry Found Within Decay.

Sally McInerney's recent exhibition in Sydney, at Chippendale's Pine Street Gallery www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/pinestreet/ presented perhaps her most coherent, resonant series of observations of nature and industrial detritus. McInerney's images carry the notion that photographs can vividly convey a sense of industrial archeology. This accomplished photographer and writer's poetic eye homes in on the beauty that slowly emerges from everyday objects in terminal decay - from a discarded car steadily oxidising into a relic of primitive automotive technology in "AWY 087" (pictured, above) to the peeling walls and unread books she observes in "Local Scene, Koorawatha 2011", taken in the farmhouse (pictured, left) in which her late mother, eminent Australian photographer Olive Cotton (1911-2003) once lived with her husband, pioneering Environmentalist. Ross McInerney. This artist has a similarly unvarnished eye when she comes to looking at the Australian landscape - showing, in "The Quarry" cause and effect as seen in Nature, where a substantial boulder rests in an unlikely position on the side of a hill.(pictured, right) McInerney's picture suggests that it was not always quiet and pastoral in this place and that great forces had repositioned this stone, ages ago. Regrettably I only saw this exhibition in high resolution online (it concluded at Pine Street Gallery on August 22) but McInerney is represented by the Josef Lebovic Gallery www.joseflebovicgallery.com/ - where these memorable images may now be accessed in archival print form.

Finalists announced for $25,000 MGA Bowness Prize

Australian photographers are blessed with a remarkable variety of rewarding photography prizes - from the currently most lucrative $100,000 Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize www.moranprizes.com.au/ to Head On Portrait Prize www.headon.com.au/ and of course the William and Winifred Bowness Prize, whose finalists are currently on view at Flickr and that consistent venue for fine photography - the Monash Gallery of Art Until October 16. http://www.flickr.com/photos/monash_gallery_of_art/sets/72157627195241511/ (pictured, above Natalie Grono's memorable evocation of childhood. From her series "Sea dreaming 2010") The William and Winifred Bowness Prize is an initiative of the MGA Foundation. http://www.mga.org.au/exhibition/view/exhibition/66 (Errata: our apologies for a previous edition of this blog in which we inadvertently published Canberra photographer Lee Grant's winning entry in the 2010 William and Winifred Bowness Prize)
Text Copyright 2011 Robert McFarlane http://www.robertmcfarlanephotos.com/

The Face, The Street and Henri Cartier-Bresson

2011-08-09T21:57:00.000-07:00

ARENA magazine: "Photography and Public Space"

"The Kiss, Bourke Street, 1978" Rennie Ellis Photographic Archive

Photograph: Robert McFarlane

Issues facing photographers who work in the public domain (pictured) - creating visual histories of our times (such as Melbourne's remarkable diarist, the late Rennie Ellis (1940-2003)http://www.rennieellis.com.au/ ) are not going away. (Distinguished photojournalist Michael Coyne explores this issue further on in this blog) Now, in the spirit of open debate ARENA magazine http://www.arena.org.au/ will host a discussion at their Project Space, 2 Kerr Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne, chaired by Melissa Miles, on Tuesday, August 16th, at 6 p.m. In a recent issue of ARENA Miles, together with Jessica Whyte, made this timely, acute observation: "In recent years everything from terrorism to paedophilia has been used to rationalise the restriction of photography in public while the social changes and anxieties that inform the restrictions, such as shifts between the public and the private, are obscured. Photography is uniquely suited to showing us un-encountered aspects of public life, and its power to make visible is central to the ways we structure, negotiate and experience the public and the private." Miles, a lecturer in Art, Design and Architecture at Monash University, will talk about this area of vital concern and Monash University's "Photography as a Crime" project. For further details, phone 03 9416 0232 or 0437 960 510 or go to ARENA magazine's website. http://www.arena.org.au/
STANDING YOUR GROUND, ON THE STREET
Just received this link from Hong Hong documentary photographer Bob Davis http://www.bobdavis-photographer.com/ ("Faces of Japan" 1978 Kodansha International) via Robin Moyer http://www.robinmoyer.com/portfolio.html about a fascinating exercise carried out recently by six photographers acting on behalf of the London Street Photographers Festival. All were assigned to photograph, on the street, in public, in different parts of London as part of a LSPF project "STAND YOUR GROUND". Their filmed reactions, and those of police and officials, perfectly express the dilemmas faced by photographers working in public spaces today, worldwide. Caused partly by the paranoia created by recent terrorist acts in London, there was general confusion about what rights photographers have to document what is before their cameras. The London police, oddly, come out as the most reasonable of inquisitors into the world of photographing on the street - having, after all, to enforce the law - which clearly still allows the taking of photographs in public in Britain. Full details of this are included in the clip.

The Phenomenology of The Face

Actor and Photographer Stuart Campbell (1951-2009) spent most of his life making faces - either as one of Australia's finest character actors, or in his less well known role as a photographer. Campbell never paraded his talent with the camera but his "eye" was highly sought after by fellow actors and 'showfolk'. Just how much delight Campbell took in the portrayal of his peers is currently on show at the mezzanine level of the Wharf Theatre of the Sydney Theatre Company. http://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/ Recently seen on exhibition at Canberra's National Portrait Gallery, where one of his subjects, author and friend Lee Tulloch, commented "Stuart Campbell’s gifts as a photographer were many but what made him unique was his ability to disarm his subjects with outlandish wit, shocking them out of their self-consciousness so that they revealed more of themselves than they had ever intended." Campbell had the simplest of photographic techniques - lighting that gave each sitter's face a luminousity and compositions that gave sculptural form to each person's body language. It is hard to escape the view that his portraits became essentially a vibrant dialogue, with each sitter eventually offering up the most intimate aspects of their personalities to Campbell's camera. This photographer was also clearly a devotee of classic black and white analog photography, reinforced by rich, traditional darkroom printing. Campbell was equally at home photographing men or women, whether the manic King Lear like antics of celebrated stage actor Ron Haddrick,(pictured, above left) the unmistakable, defined planes of Belinda Giblin's face (pictured, left) or the stillness he captured in Wendy Hughes' extraordinary face, early in her career.(pictured, above left) One of his most memorable images is of legendary Australian performer, Little Nell, pressed against the rough texture of a wall.(pictured, right) This unforgettable picture, with its partial nudity, is as hard to categorise, and as unforgettable, as Little Nell herself. Campbell's working life also paralleled that of Mel Gibson's Australian career, and we see an impossibly young Gibson in an early Campbell photograph.(pictured, above right) I first heard of this exhibition through a call received from film director Gillian Armstrong, a close friend of Campbell. After Campbell's death in 2009, Armstrong was instrumental in presenting his archive to the National Portrait Gallery. http://www.portrait.gov.au/site/exhibition_subsite_stuartcampbell.php?pagenum= Considering that Campbell had photographed many of the key figures in the renaissance of Australian film and theatre from the 1970's onwards, they were delighted to offer an exhibition, "Between Light and Shadow", which only finished in July. A spokesperson for Sydney Theatre Company said there is no closing date planned for the Stuart Campbell exhibition, at this stage. On display on the Mezzanine at the Wharf Theatre, Pier 4-5, Hickson Road, Walsh Bay, Sydney.
POST SCRIPT:

I last saw Stuart Campbell (pictured right, in a self portrait) while I was working as a stills photographer on the set of the 1996 film "Dating The Enemy", which starred Claudia Karvan and Guy Pearce. Stuart Campbell had a small role playing, ironically, a photographer pursuing Guy Pearce's television celebrity character, in the intrusive style of the Paparazzi. While the director, Megan Simpson Huberman, was preparing for the scene in which Campbell would secretly photograph Pearce in Sydney's Hyde Park, Pearce wandered up to Campbell as he was busily assembling his impressive camera outfit, adding a very long, expensive looking, fast lens, for the scene to come. Idly making conversation, Pearce asked Campbell whether the camera and lens belonged to him. "No," answered Campbell, a little shortly, "they were supplied by the film's producers." Looking at the impressive array of lens and camera, Pearce casually continued, "bet you wish you could take them home." Campbell, who never made a secret of his gay sexuality, looked up at Pearce and replied, "No, but I wish I could take you home." The conversation abruptly ended there and Pearce moved away to diligently prepare for his next scene.
JESSE MARLOW TOPS "LONDON STREET PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL"

Jesse Marlow L and Hannah White, R, the Event's Coordinator

No stranger himself to the photographing on the street, Adelaide photographer Gary Cockburn sent me this link from Edinburgh http://londonstreetphotographyfestival.org/contact where he is pursuing his long term project of documenting their Fringe Festival (along with Adelaide) Jesse Marlow (pictured, above) has a growing reputation as one of Australia's finest younger photojournalists (Marlow was selected recently for the World Press Photo Masterclass and has been critically well received for his droll observations on the visibly injured in his book, "Wounded" and an earlier book, "Centre Bounce", which documented indigenous AFL football in Central Australia. Marlow has now been announced as the winner (with Phillip Cheung as Second Prize Winner) of London's 2011 Street Photography Festival. To see Marlow's winning portfolio, go to http://www.jessemarlow.com/portfolio/dont-tell-them-show-them-page/ (pictured, above, one of his award-winning selection) Ironically I also recently received a link to an eloquent article written by acclaimed Hong Kong-based Black Star photojournalist, Michael Coyne, on the increasingly difficult environment faced by photographers working in the street. http://rising.blackstar.com/of-street-photographers-spies-perverts-and-pedophiles.html The street is the environment that defines a society. Consider how visually (and historically) poor we would be without the astonishingly agile, accurate observations of photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Josef Koudelka and Robert Frank. A society is greatly defined by how we are seen to live and restrictions on recording urban human activity are nothing if not shortsighted, stupid and in some cases, sinister. How would the revolutions currently unfolding in the Middle East have fared, had people agreed to such suppression?

HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON IS COMING TO BRISBANE.

Coincidentally, photographs by arguably the greatest street photographer of them all, Henri Cartier-Bresson, will soon be seen in Brisbane with the mammoth exhibition, "The Man, The Image & The World" http://qag.qld.gov.au/exhibitions/coming_soon/henri_cartier-bresson opening on August 27 at the Queensland Art Gallery. On exhibition for three months, this extraordinary display shows how Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) charted the currents of artistic, cultural and political change within the 20th Century and promises to be the most expansive display of the great photographer's work yet seen in this country. Combined with QAG's other shows of Surrealism and Matisse, a journey to Brisbane would seem to be essential within the near future.

Masterworks From Three Centuries

2011-07-30T23:36:00.000-07:00

An August full of Nuance, Whimsy - and Menace.

STILLS Gallery http://www.stillsgallery.com.au/ have entered the new month with an exhibition"Artificial Spacial Systems" by Paul Adair, inspired by his 2009 residency in Los Angeles. This might suggest Adair has returned to Australia filled with the joy of art theory, and with the pictures to grimly prove it. Fortunately there is an innate desire in Adair's deceptively simple pictures to entertain and sometimes confound the
viewer's perceptions, as in his earlier work, "Basketball 2008" (pictured, right). A.S.S. (as Stills Gallery has called Adair's new show) promises to reveal a further evolution of this photographer's vision. Until September 3 STILLS Gallery are also showing "Plant Life" and "Precarious", an exhibition and film by artist Merilyn Fairskye that explore the aftermath, a quarter of a century later, of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. After recent events in Japan, this exhibition will have special significance. Also until September 3.

At Point Light Gallery, Enrico Scotece has curated "Shadow Play", featuring the black and white photographs by eleven photographers (all traditionally printed on fibre-based paper) that explore moments more inferred than spelled out. Looking at Tony Sillavan's "Dark Wind" (pictured, left) with its corrugated waves of wind blown grass, I thought immediately (though I admit somewhat laterally) of French writer Francois Mauriac's description of bleak rural France in his 1927 novel, "Therese Desqueyroux". http://www.pointlight.com.au/ Until August 21
Australian & International Photography in Sydney

Photograph by Carol Jerrems

Photograph by David Potts

Now fully resettled in a former bank building in Anzac Parade, Kensington, the Josef Lebovic Gallery http://www.joseflebovicgallery.com.au/ are currently showing an extensive selection of Australian and International photography from the 19th, 20th and 21st Centuries. Josef Lebovic has long had a penchant for photography's first century and this exhibition is no exception, with extensive portfolios depicting life in Australia, especially, during photography's absolute infancy. It is the 20th century work, however, that shows a series of strong calibrations of the muscular new art form in this country - with works by David Potts (pictured, right) David Moore, Max Dupain, Roger Scott, William Yang, Josef Vissel and a photographer with a distinctive way of seeing and style of printing - Melbourne's enigmatic Robert Besanko. (pictured, below left) This photographer has a unique visual signature, especially when portraying the female form and once an image of Besanko's is seen, it lodges stubbornly in memory - ever sculptural and alluring. Another Melbourne enigma, the late Carol Jerrems, is represented by one of her, and Australian photography's finest portraits, especially of a woman - "Lynn" (pictured, above left) I confess this picture of a confident, intense young Australian woman resonated with me so strongly that in 1994 I selected it as the catalogue cover image for "Critic's Choice", a personal survey of the Art Gallery of NSW www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/ Photography Collection that I curated at the time.It's wonderful to see it again in Josef Lebovic's gallery. (in the spirit of full disclosure I should also declare that as a photographer, I am represented by the Josef Lebovic Gallery) Until August 13.

Australian Talent Flowered in Manhattan, Long Ago.

Swimsuit advt, 1951 Photograph: Anton Bruehl

Anton Bruehl was born to immigrant German parents in Naracoorte, South Australia in 1900, and emigrated to the United States nineteen years later. Coming from a country where his German father, a skilled Physician, Surgeon and Opthalmologist, effectively lived and practiced his profession under the political cloud of being a possible German sympathizer, it is perhaps not surprising that Bruehl, with his brother Martin, travelled to the United States to find a new life, and eventually, a new home for their parents. However, within a decade Bruehl had transformed his own life, turning a hobbyist interest in photography into a profession where he pioneered an elegant, graphic and for the times, erotic use of colour photography in magazines. After initially getting work as as an electrical engineer, Bruehl saw an exhibition by the students of legendary U.S. photographer Clarence H. White at the NY Art Centre that would change his life. "My hobby had (also) emigrated and I read ... books and attended exhibitions," he recalled in Gael Newton's book 'In The Spotlight'. "I found it (White's Student Exhibition) very impressive." Bruehl sought out White and persuaded the eminent photographer to teach him privately. Nothing if not decisive, the next day Bruehl took six month's leave from his employers, Western Electric, and determined "to try for a full time career in photography". He never went back. How brilliantly the young Australian succeeded is on exhibition in the National Gallery of Australia http://www.nga.gov.au/ touring exhibition "Anton Bruehl - Into The Spotlight", at Melbourne's elegant Monash Gallery of Art www.mga.org.au/ until September 11. Bruehl would master not only the technical demands of large format colour photography for reproduction (he would work extensively for pioneering magazine publisher Conde Nast) but would develop a style of photo illustration for advertising, that in hindsight, shows some kinship for the affectionate portrayal of Americal life employed by illustrator Norman Rockwell. The difference with Bruehl was in his portrayal of women. Using elegant, sometimes surprisingly explicit nudity, the charming young Australian produced subtly coloured images that eschewed sentimentality and, at their best, gave their subjects unmistakable erotic appeal. When one photograph (pictured, above left) of model Ruth Corlett, quite obviously nude and wearing only a bright red, circular hat, was deemed too risque for the US Postal Service and moved from the cover of U.S. VOGUE to inside the magazine, Corlett drily protested, defending its tastefulness, as Gael Newton noted, saying, "(but) I was adequately clad in Mr. Bruehl's best shadows."

Beneath Bruehl's elegant colour fantasies and his complex theatrical tableaux, there was also yet another photographer waiting - capable of mastering austere, beautifully exposed and printed observations of society - specifically, a series of images which Bruehl made in Mexico, and which he then published in luxuriant, finely reproduced book form. Photographs of Anton Bruehl at the peak of his career reveal a handsome young man apparently enjoying life by taking playful, yet professional delight in the elegance and beauty of his subjects. This exhibition is not to be missed. Until September 11 and afterwards in January 2012 at the Queensland University of Technology Art Museum.
TAKE - A Fine New Avenue for Australian Photography

Austalian photographers now have a new, well reproduced and designed magazine in which to showcase their photography. TAKE magazine. Part of a stable of magazines which also includes the excellent, provocative art magazine EMPTY, TAKE http://www.takephotomag.com/ will be published twice a year and offers a series of portfolios of fine, contemporary Australian and International photography. Once again, seen en masse, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that photography in this country produces some remarkably individual visions - such as those of Adam Ferguson, Lisa Wiltse, Martin Mischkulnig, Jessica Tremp and David Flanagan.
Gone But Not Forgotten

Two remarkable exhibitions that have since closed but which should not be forgotten are Prudence Murphy's "Boys with Guns", an exploration of boys and their traditional obsession with playing games featuring guns, (pictured, above) and seen recently at the Monash Gallery of Art and Ella Dreyfus's remarkable colourist visions "To See Beyond What Seems To Be", recently shown at Articulate Project Space http://www.artwhatson.com.au/articulateprojectspace/to-see-beyond-what-seems-to-be (pictured, above right) in Sydney. Both artists are difficults to categorise, with Murphy http://www.prudencemurphy.com/cv.html showing her series of droll observations of young boys playing with weapons - while Dreyfus, well known for her portraits and unsentimental, brutally honest nudes, showed a series of seductive images suffused with colour, but little defining detail. http://www.elladreyfus.com/news.php Looking at her photographs I thought immediately of two artists from very different centuries - J.M.W. Turner with his vistas overwhelmed by colour and suppressed definition; and Lloyd Rees, whom I photographed in 1982.(pictured, right) With his fading eyesight, Rees (1895-1988) was reduced, as he diligently rolled his sleeves up to paint every day, to creating a wan Impressionism.

POST SCRIPT for "Boys With Guns"

When looking at the seemingly trivial domestic vistas in which Prudence Murphy's young subjects play out their fantasies, I was drawn to thoughts of the recent ghastly mass atrocity in Oslo, and reminded myself that it was perpetrated by an open-faced, handsome young man, nourished, we are told, by fear, prejudice, a love of guns and the explicit, mimetic games he played incessantly on his computer.

How Far Have We Come?

2011-07-27T02:42:00.000-07:00

Mick Rock - Exposed, and Extended at Blender

Singer Debbie Harry of Blondie Photograph by Mick Rock

David Bowie Photograph by Mick Rock

Photographs by Mick Rock, known as "The Man Who Shot the 70's", are on display at Blender Gallery for another three weeks http://www.blender.com.au/exhibitions/mick-rock-exposed/ in Paddington Sydney. The exhibition was to finish this weekend but because of public interest, Director Tali Udovich has extended the show until August 20th. Mick Rock is perhaps the most stylised and conceptual of rock photographers, but still capable of simple, honest reportage when required. Blender Gallery appear to have happily gone over to the 'dark side' and now describe their gallery as "Specialists in Music Photography & Rock 'n' Roll Prints". This would appear to be a good thing as Rock and Roll's pervasive presence in youth (and not so young) culture deserves passionate, critical exposure. In the past Blender Gallery have done this regularly through exhibitions including photographs by Ethan Russell, Henry Diltz and Australia's Tony Mott, Philip Morris and Bob King.

With this exhibition, Blender Gallery also launched Mick Rock's latest publication, "MICK ROCK - EXPOSED - The Faces of Rock 'N' Roll". Everyone from rock culture's past four decades are here - Queen and its melancholic leader, the late Freddy Mercury, Syd Barrett, Lou Reed, Blondie, Iggy Pop, right up to the current Queen of Art Rock, Lady Gaga. (I recently caught her latest television performance by chance, on Saturday Night Live. Suitably extravagantly clad, Lady Gaga sang brilliantly, proving she is much more than just her amazing visuals.) In his book, Mick Rock contributes a revealing introduction, offers detailed captions for each picture but also includes an essay by eminent British playwright Tom Stoppard. (The book is on sale at Blender Gallery at its recommended retail price of $50.00)

Fast, Digital Compact Cameras continue to surprise

Nikon SP camera with 35mmf1.8 Nikkor

Nikon Coolpix P300 digital camera

The new generation of compact digital cameras with fast wide angle zoom lenses started with Samsung's EX-1 and continued with new models from Olympus and Canon. (ozphotoreview has already favourably reviewed Canon's fine S95) This trend continues with Nikon's outwardly modest Coolpix P300. (pictured, left) However, this simply styled camera has a number of surprises in store. I quickly found it remarkable for both versatility and image quality. After travelling with this camera to Sydney and using it under a wide variety of lighting conditions I came to the conclusion that fast digital compacts, having roughly the same dimensions as a pack of playing cards, were capable of equalling (perhaps surpassing) the versatility of the great 35mm rangefinder workhorses from a half century ago - such as Canon's VIT and the Nikon SP.(pictured, above right) If this seems an ambitious claim, consider the fact that the Coolpix contains essentially the same focal lengths within its zoom lens as a Nikon SP with 25, 50, 85 and 105 lenses, but also shoots HD video. However the SP, favoured by many LIFE and LOOK photojournalists in the late 1950's and early 1960's, was equal to any picture-taking situation in its era. With its fast 35mm, 50mm and 85mm lenses, this camera represented the pinnacle of Japanese coupled-rangefinder camera design. (Nikon S rangefinder cameras began their life as picture-taking instruments clearly derived from pre-war Zeiss Contax cameras. Constant improvements at Nippon Kogaku quickly transcended the original German design) But after the Nikon SP reached its peak, there would be no more Nikon rangefinder

Martin Sharp at "Wirian" Photograph by Robert McFarlane

rangefinder cameras with interchangeable lenses.

Tiny Tim, Luna Park 1979 Photograph by Robert McFarlane

Psychologist Michelle Sexton

This would mark the beginning of another tradition: the introduction in 1959 of a new camera that would quickly become famous for its extreme durability - the Nikon "F" 35mm SLR (but that's another story) Using its advanced viewfinder, the Nikon SP could accomodate lenses

Jade, taken with Nikon P300

from 28mm wide-angle to 105mm telephoto-and longer using a mirror box. And between 35mm and 85mm, lens speeds commonly ranged from 1.4 for the 50mm, to f1.5 for the fastest 85mm medium telephoto.(there was even a rare 50mm f1.1 Nikkor) Photojournalists loved the speed and quality of these lenses, and the ability to accurately frame and focus using the SP's excellent rangefinder. Much of the turbulent political history of the United States in the 1960's would be recorded by men and women using this camera. I thought about the Nikon SP, surely one of the most elegant camera designs ever, and its remarkable capabilities when I picked up the diminuitive Nikon Coolpix P300. The zoom ratio of the P300's Nikkor lens was modest (4.2X) but the speed and angle of view at its widest setting was not - f1.8 and the equivalent of 24mm. Neither was the len's sharpness. When I visited an old friend, artist Martin Sharp, while in Sydney, I made a few simple portraits of this remarkable painter, printmaker, film director and writer at his Bellevue Hill home - the sprawling mansion "Wirian" - filled with a half-century of Sharp's remarkable artistic output. (I had enjoyed the privilege, in January 1979, of being one of the photographers invited by Sharp to document the presence in Sydney of U.S. singer Tiny Tim.) Sharp was directing "Street of Dreams" a definitive documentary film of Tiny Tim (1932-1996) in performance at Sydney's Luna Park showing the remarkable troubadour breaking the World's Non-Stop Singing Record. (pictured, above) As I photographed Sharp, I periodically checked the sharpness of the Coolpix P300 pictures on the very fine resolution LED monitor, I was surprised and delighted by their sharpness, colour balance and appropriate contrast. Clearly this camera, with its 12 megapixel backside-illuminated CMOS sensor, was capable of making pictures of professional publication quality. I would later make a series of spontaneous portraits of a lawyer friend, Jade, in the bright, contrasty light of Sydney's Redfern streets (and also a close-up portrait of Adelaide psychologist Michelle Sexton taken indoors under more subdued light) that illustrated this camera's qualities well. Sharpness, contrast and colour balance all proved exemplary. Enthusiastic amateurs and professionals alike can take confidence in this latest member of the new generation of pocketable cameras - while also noting the Coolpix P300 shoots full 1080 HD video. (the Coolpix sports a built-in stereo mike and includes the increasingly popular panoramic mode) Picture-taking menus were simple and I found myself only occasionally drawn to the User's Manual.

"Pope Alice" Returns to the ACP.

"Pope Alice" at Lake Galilee, Qld. Photograph by Luke Roberts

The Australian Centre for Photography http://www.acp.org.au/ is currently showing two exhibitions which encompass important perimeters of current art practice: Luke Roberts is presenting AlphaStation/Alphaville, yet another courageous, unsentimental exploration into personal identity, as well as revisiting one of his most potent creations - the elusive, mythic and slightly ominous presence of Pope Alice. (pictured, above) Inspired, and perhaps provoked by his strict Catholic upbringing in Queensland, Australia (and Roberts' reaction to the Catholic Church's abhorrence of homosexuality) Pope Alice now has a wandering life of her own in the hands of this dedicated artist. Typically, Roberts has added an extra, ironic touch to his panoramic evocation of the celestial Pontiff - by photographing her at Lake Galilee. Not the same body of water as in the Holy Land, but in a remote, waterless part of Queensland. Until July 23 Practising What You Preach, and also Show.

Photograph by Steve Lock

Photograph by Angela Rose Woods

On display at the same time as the sadly soon to finish exhibition by Luke Roberts, is work by the students at the Australian Centre for Photography. This current exhibition reveals at least two of the extremes of modern photography - images which could only be produced in the age of Photoshop - and pictures so fluid, observational and brilliantly narrative, (pictured above left) that thoughts of artifice simply do not occur. And as the former husband of brilliant illustrator, Kate Burness (her remarkable 1973 Rolling Stones poster was featured in Get On Down (pictured, right - with the book using Martin Sharp's brilliant poster for Jimi Hendrix as the cover image) http://www.poster-books.com/music/get-on-down-a-decade-of-rock-and-roll-posters.shtml) I am aware of the skills possessed by talented, imaginative artists. But when I saw the wonderful photo-illustration created by Angela Rose Woods (pictured above) I had to acknowledge what may be dreamed, can now be made real through software such as Photoshop http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html challenging the traditional draftsmanship and classical colourist skills possessed by artists such as Burness.

But There's More! Coming Attractions at the ACP.

Photograph by Lloyd Godman

Starting on July 29th are two exhibitions that exploit photography's traditional strengths. In Gallery 3, Lloyd Godman will present Entropy, a suite of colour photographs that illustrate how the Australian bush regenerated after the tragic Victorian bushfires of 2009. (pictured, left) Accompanying Godman will be Disappeared by Remained an exhibition of Korean photographers (one of retiring ACP Director Alasdair Foster's achievements has been to embrace the reality of Australia's presence in Asia and the Pacific) The artistry of the Korean people is often overlooked when considered in context with their phenomenal capacity for imaginative hard work (a contemporary Korean saying proclaims 'we are the only people who make the Japanese look lazy!)

Photograph by Woon-Gu Kang

Photograph by Ki-Chan Kim

Disappeared but Remained offers the work of three distinguished Korean photographers: Woon-Gu Kang, Ki-Chan Kim, and Gap Chul Lee in an exhibition curated by the Museum of Photography, Seoul.

Each understands the idea that every photograph, in some way, is an elegy for a past experience or person. Defying global artistic trends, Korean photographers pursue what their spokesman called, "the essential characteristic of photography: the representation and preservation of reality. The photographers ... (and) focus on documenting disappearing moments, places or objects (within) the radical social change of South Korea’s rapid industrialization and westernization."

Just out: 2011 Compendium of Australian Photographers.

Just off the presses in China is a remarkable addition to Australian publishing - a beautifully designed and reproduced book which contains the work of the vast majority of photographers (over 130) who exhibited in recognised Australian art galleries during 2011. Each photographer supplied one photograph and accompanying text with their contact details. The Compendium(pictured, left and right) was created by Mary Meyer and Bob Kersey, founders of the Meyer Gallery http://www.meyergallery.com.au/ and becomes, after the quickest reading (a copy arrived only hours ago) a uniquely valuable source of reference for the current (and annual) state of this dynamic Australian art. To obtain copies, please contact Mary Meyer on 0409 971 940 or visit http://www.thecompendium.com.au/ to find out how to participate in future editions.

Text: Copyright Robert McFarlane 2011 http://www.robertmcfarlanephotos.com/

The Unchanged, and Adorned Landscape

2011-06-11T23:43:00.000-07:00

Greg Weight's Night Masterpiece on Show in Melbourne

"East of Emily with meteorite 2009" Photograph by Greg Weight

"Formations 2010" Photograph by Greg Weight

19th and 20th Century Australians of European origin grew up nourished by the fiction that this continent's heart was dead - a lifeless, threatening landscape completely opposed to the residual, mythic imagery of a European Arcadia from whence we came. This pervasive fiction has been, however, consistently eroded, firstly by our painters - from Fred Williams, Arthur Boyd and Sidney Nolan to the seemingly photographic-inspired visions of William Robinson http://www.evabreuerartdealer.com.au/robinson.html Photographically, the inner, beating heart of Australia has been unsentimentally recognized by a generation of 20th Century photographers from - Wesley Stacey http://www.photo-web.com.au/wesley/intro1.htm and David Moore http://www.davidmoorephotography.com.au/ to the more recent, epic 21st Century visions of Murray Fredericks www.murrayfredericks.com.au/ and David Flanagan. http://www.davidflanagan.com.au/ The poetic, planetary, aerial abstractions of Richard Woldendorp http://www.richardwoldendorp.com/ offer an even more seductive alternative. Woldendorp makes no attempt to gild Australia's lily; instead this Dutch-born Western Australian has captured the Australian landscape as he finds it, but through a deeply informed, artistic vision. It is impossible to look at Woldendorp's photographs of a raw, Australian landscape, taken from the air, without gathering painterly references from generations of Australia's greatest 20th Century artists - especially including indigenous painters . To this mix of artists comes yet another unique vision. Visual veteran Greg Weight www.gregweightphoto.com.au/ - equally literate in photography, sculpture and painting (Weight's partner, appropriately, is accomplished painter and GalleryEast director Carol Ruff http://www.carolruff.com/ The Sydney-based photographer brings a simple, poetic vision laced with humility, to portraying our land. Weight's pictures entrance the viewer by intimately conveying, for example, the feeling of standing in a distant Australian landscape after dark, beneath a luminous inland night sky. Weight's colour image of a serrated ridge, with its spindly trees caught against a darkening canopy (pictured, above) through which a falling meteorite traces a faint line of light, is nothing less than a masterpiece. There is another, disparate string to Weight's artistic bow, however. This veteran artist has also attempted the seemingly impossible - supplementing the Australian landscape with a form of installation art - by subtly altering the vistas he photographs. By positioning a series of alien, bound, tree-like structures (pictured, below) Weight unexpectedly adds to our sense of the Australian landscape, while also acknowledging his understanding of Indigenous Australia and our art in general. Weight asserts that "they appear in concert with each other and ... the landscape. With their branches tied, ... landscape beyond becomes more visible ... more sculptural. Placed by nature. Shaped by hand." The central desert of Australia is enormous and alive, adds Weight and making these photographs was, he maintains simply, "a very small and ephemeral gesture to do with contemporary intelligence in a timeless place." At Melbourne's Australian Galleries www.australiangalleries.com.au/ until June 26
The Co-Parent of Digital Photography Dies at 86

2009 Nobel Prize for Physics Laureate Willard Boyle 1924-2011 (pictured, left) the co-inventor (with fellow Nobel laureate George E. Smith 1930-) of the Charge-Coupled Device (CCD), which first made digital photography possible, has died in Wallace, Nova Scotia, Canada on May 7. Boyle's achievement in co-creating the charge-coupled device in 1969 effectively ushered in a revolution in photography. "After making the first couple of imaging devices," remembered Boyle, "we knew for certain that chemistry photography was dead." Boyle reportedly told his artist wife Betty on the day he and Smith had worked on the CCD concept, "George and I did something special today." Later Boyle recalled that the two physicists' discussion had lasted little more than an hour, during which he and Smith 'batted some ideas around' and came up with the CCD. “We realised here is something that is pretty interesting because it will for the first time enable technology to store photographs ... transmit them and use them somewhere else.” Boyle, a Canadian, had already enjoyed a long, distinguished career as a physicist, which included (with Don Nelson) inventing the first continuously operating ruby laser in 1962, during his time working at America's legendary Bell Labs in New Jersey. In another, earlier, very different career, Boyle flew Spitfires for the Fleet Air Arm in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. (at war's end, Boyle was undertaking training landing Spitfires on aircraft carriers.) Boyle was also director of Bell Labs' Space Science and Exploratory Studies in 1962 and helped select the U.S. lunar landing sites. Later sending of images from the 1969 Moon landing to Earth used his newly designed CCD technology.
The Redefined Moment

"Resurgence 2010" Photograph by Darren Harris

LtoR: Tony Egan, Bob Kersey, Jenny Templin, Mary Meyer

While I was last in Sydney I visited a gallery that primarily shows photography, the Meyer Gallery http://www.meyergallery.com.au/ to see Darren Harris's "Psychological Portraits", a series of black and white images that provided impressionistic portraits of humanity's most inner landscapes. Reminiscent at first glance of South African artist William Kentridge's remarkable black and white drawings, Harris, who has a background in psychology and counselling, created images which extended and layered the photographic moment (pictured, above) While at the gallery I noticed that Mary Meyer, her partner Bob Kersey and Tony Egan http://tonyeganphotography.com/about.html and Jenny Templin http://www.sydneycommunitycollege.com.au/tutor/200 (pictured, above, in a picture I made with the impressive Nikon Coolpix P300 which I am reviewing for a future blog) were all captivated by a website for the late Vivien Maier http://vivianmaier.blogspot.com/ whose photographic archive has only recently been discovered. Maier's artless, heartfelt style reflected a lifelong committment to documenting everyday life, and marked Vivien Maier (1926-2009) as a truly memorable amateur - in the best sense of that word. Darren Harris's exhibition closes June 11.

Distilled Moments from Another Century.

One of the great strengths of Australian fine-art photography is the freedom with which artists pursue the most personal, differing visions - from, for example, the fabricated emotional fantasies of Polixeni Papapetrou http://polixenipapapetrou.net/ to the exquisite, but differing still-life images of Marian Drew, http://robingibson.net/artists/marian-drew Anna-Maryke Grey http://www.anna-maryke.com/ and Robyn Stacey http://lightjourneys.net.au/artists/robyn-stacey/ Where death frequently permeates Drew's meticulously constructed tableaux, Grey and Stacey deal with the residual evidence of lives lived fully, long ago. Any new exhibition by Robyn Stacey always radiates visual evidence of her continuing love affair with colonial Australia. The mature vision of this artist conjures feelings of an era where silicon was only found in sand on the beach, and if you called someone, hopefully it meant they were within earshot. At Stills Gallery until June 25
http://www.stillsgallery.com.au/exhibitions/index.php?obj_id=main&nav=1

"Received Moments" opens at Orange on June 17

"Christmas Eve, The Paradise Club, Kings Cross c.1966"

"Robyn Archer in Tonight-Lola Blau c.1982"

Expertly curated by Sarah Johnson, my 1961-2009 retrospective is slowly coming to the end of its long tour through the excellent, inclusive (and enlightening) Australian regional gallery network. I am travelling to Orange Regional Gallery http://www.org.nsw.gov.au/ next week to open the penultimate showing of this body of work. I once opened a show in Orange by an old friend, Barry Flakelar, and found their new, modern gallery diverse, welcoming and exciting. Each one of the regional galleries where "Received Moments" has been shown, from Maitland to Broken Hill and the Gold Coast, has taken a slightly different tack with how they displayed the pictures. I look forward to seeing Director Alan Sisley's interpretation. The tour of these pictures has only reinforced my belief in the importance of regional Australian communities. (it's final season opens at the Flinders Art Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, on October 29 http://www.flinders.edu.au/artmuseum/index.cfm?mid=2&sid=0 )
Until July 31.

"I am a Camera" opens at Adelaide's Greenhill Galleries

A diverse and intriguing group of fourteen photographers have contributed to Adelaide's latest photographic exhibition at Greenhill Galleries, North Adelaide. Paul Lloyd's sensual colour images of Australian flora (pictured) were accompanied in the photographer's notes by this appropriate verse:

    Little flower – but if I could understand
   What you are, root and all, and all in all,
   I should know what God and man is.

(from Tennyson's "Flower in the Crannied Wall")

Evocative nudes (pictured, left) by Gianna Grbich, broadcaster Richard Morecroft's illusionist landscapes (pictured, right) and a welcome showing of new work by veteran photographer and teacher, Ed Douglas, makes this exhibition compelling viewing. Until July 5
http://www.greenhillgalleriesadelaide.com.au/current_exhibitions.php
Text copyright Robert McFarlane 2011 http://www.robertmcfarlanephotos.com/

An Epic May Coming in Photography

2011-04-26T23:46:00.000-07:00

May in Sydney shows every sign of promise, considering the Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize http://www.moranprizes.com.au/ winners will be announced on May 3, at an exhibition at the State Library of NSW and the Head On Photo Festival w ww.headon.com.au/ is also scheduled to flood Sydney with artistic diversity in early May. In the meantime, I have been absorbed by events in Adelaide, especially a discussion on historic photographers Henri Mallard and Captain Samuel Sweet (pictured, below right) conducted recently at the Adelaide Festival Centre Gallery. Sydney photographer Henri Mallard (1884-1967) readers may know, extensively documented the epic construction of Sydney Harbour Bridge in the early 1930's (pictured) while Captain Samuel Sweet (1825-1886) was an industrious, talented South Australian photographer during the second half of the 19th Century, with, as I found out, an equal enthusiasm for photographing the construction of bridges. The other good reason for attending was that Gael Newton, Senior Curator of Photography at the National Gallery of Australia and distinguished South Australian Curator Karen Magee were to speak, with Newton also opening a compact exhibition of contemporary fibre-based silver gelatin prints made by the late David Moore (1927-2003) www.davidmoorephotography.com.au/ of Mallard's unsentimental, powerfully realised observations. Visitors to David Moore's website (above) will discover that Moore made some of the most definitive photographs of that huge, single-span structure during his long, distinguished career. Newton and Magee are, respectively, acknowledged experts on Mallard and Sweet, and their witty, informed comments were well received by the capacity audience. Newton regaled us with droll revelations about Mallard's known love of all things French. (the photographer spoke with a French accent, affected an appropriately Gallic air, and was commonly seen wearing a beret and sporting a generous moustache) Mallard was, however, French by parentage only, having been born in Balmain, Sydney. Sweet, Magee informed us, was born in Britain, a master mariner before he was a photographer, and shared Mallard's love of great endeavours, photographing such comparatively modest, but important South Australian projects, as the building of Murray Bridge. Much more can be discovered about the master mariner turned photographer on Karen Magee's website http://captainsweet.com.au/ His well organised photographs are

populated generously by the many workers needed to make such constructions possible. Both Sweet and Mallard clearly understood the value of labour, especially the remarkably varied skills needed to conquer the challenging spaces between shores. It was noticeable that Newton and Magee's talks were well attended by Adelaide's fine-art photography community - notably Ian North and Gary Cockburn. While I was in the Festival Centre complex, with its sweeping views of the South Australian Parliament, I took the opportunity to test a new camera sent from Sony www.sony.com.au/ - their tiny but remarkably well featured Cybershot DSC WX-7. (pictured) Barely larger than a laptop mousepad and no thicker than a pack of playing cards, the WX-7 seems typical of what camera manufacturers are offering consumers today. For under $300, this camera has 16 Megapixel resolution, a 5x Zeiss Vario-Tessar zoom lens (25-125mm equivalent) with Full HD (1920 x 1080/50i) video recording and full Optical Image Stabilisation, with Sony's proven SteadyShot. This camera also offers another, increasingly popular feature - Sweep Panorama (pictured, above) which I predict will prove popular with travellers wanting to see beyond the edge of their vision. In this mode (set at the detent between stills and video) the WX-7 automatically, and rapidly, takes a number of images as it smoothly pans in the direction of an arrow which appears on the screen) These exposures are then seamlessly stitched within the camera, creating the panoramic image seen here. There is also a 3D function associated with Sweep Panorama, which sadly, I did not have time to explore. I am sure many will find this an option worth exploring when coupled with their HDTV. Usually I test lenses at their limit, assuming they can only get better from this point on. I made this informal office portrait (pictured, above right) of Adelaide psychologist Michelle Sexton which shows fine rendering of detail with little visible distortion, at f2.6 and at its widest angle - 25mm. Finally, I recently noticed a sign (pictured, above left) by the side of a highway -for an event presumably those interested should have already known about - a 'psychic festival.' The WX-7 rendered this scene with great clarity. I hope to soon test the remarkable new generation of advanced compact cameras featuring unusually fast, wide lenses. For those who have used Leica M, Nikon S, Canon VIT and the current generation of Voigtlander Bessa M mount coupled rangefinder cameras, www.mainlinephoto.com.au/ it could prove nostalgic - and perhaps prophetic.
Luke Hardy Returns with "Dragonfly", to Meyer Gallery

Photographer Luke Hardy, who made such an impact with his Yuki Onna "Woman of the Snow" exhibition at the Meyer Gallery www.meyergallery.com.au/ in 2009, again salutes the power concealed within the ephemeral in "Dragonfly". Anyone who has been transfixed by galloping archers in an Akira Kurosawa film, will understand the Zen lode which Hardy mines in these delicate, resonant colour images. Opening with on May 4 as part of Head On Photo Festival www.headon.com.au/ "New York Photographs 1985-1989" by Julie Sundberg opens the following week (pictured).

Text Copyright Robert McFarlane 2011. http://www.ozphotoreview.com/

Return of the Master

2011-04-08T01:26:00.000-07:00

E.O. Hoppe returns to Sydney after 80 years.

Eight decades after the renowned German-born photographer extensively documented Australia, a tantalizing sampling of vintage works made by E.O. Hoppe - "A Year in The Life of Australia" is at last being seen in Sydney, in Josef Lebovic's elegant new Kensington Gallery www.joseflebovicgallery.com/ When Hoppe arrived in Australia in 1930 to document the only recently federated nation from coast to coast, the intense cameraman was arguably the most famous photographer in the world. Hoppe (1878-1972) was renowned for being able to address both epic and intimate subjects with equal eloquence. He had photographed slums and palaces, poverty and royalty - all with a characteristic intensity and simple, resonant compositions. Portraits of Hoppe around this time reveal a man who regarded any camera - whether photographing with it or addressing the lens in a circa 1920 self-portrait - with an unquenchable passion.(pictured, above) Before travelling to Australia from Europe he was warned that the new country didn't have enough of visual interest to hold his attention for long. Hoppe, however, soon came to terms with Australia's way of life - and work. His photographs captured the sensuality of leisure, the inferences of poverty caused by a growing world Depression in the 1930's, and the ironic presence of vast public undertakings - such as the construction of Sydney's massive new Harbour Bridge. (pictured, left) Hoppe also, unlike many visiting observers, recognised the importance of indigenous Australia - making images that were luminous in their unsentimental witnessing of tribal life.(pictured, left) This photographer also acknowledged the cultural importance of Australia's sporting icons, quietly documenting epic Test cricket scores by Don Bradman - handwritten on a humble sign attached the boot of a battered, dusty black car in a remote location. (pictured, right) Curatorial Assistance's www.curatorial.com/ Graham Howe, who discovered Hoppe's extraordinary photographic archive camouflaged under subjects' names and not the photographer's, in a U.K. photographic archive, believes passionately that Hoppe's Australian photographs (which influenced such renowned Australian photographers as Max Dupain www.maxdupain.com.au/JWgallery.htm) should be acquired by an appropriate Australian institution in order to preserve them for posterity. Until April 23
Darren Sylvester wins $20,000 Photography Award

The photographic award season has begun with "What happens will happen" by Darren Sylvester (pictured, left) winning the 2011 Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photographic Award. Judge Shaune Lakin of the Monash Gallery of Art praised Sylvester's work for being "iconic" but also playing down its claims to being iconic by being "humourous, seductive and charming." Lakin also commended Julie Rrap for her work "Outerspace #10" and Geoff Parr for "Spectre". Works from the Award will be on display at the Gold Coast City Gallery http://www.theartscentregc.com.au/ until May 22.

Planetary Visions of Light, Ice and Stone

2011-03-20T21:03:00.000-07:00

When I was last in Sydney, I saw two exhibitions in which artists offered planetary perspectives on wildly differing environments - Emma Rowan-Kelly's "innocentarctic' conveyed subtle, almost monochromatic colour visions of the frozen North - while Richard Green's latest showing of his "Remote and Wild" landscapes revealed distant regions of Australia (an exhibition I was privileged to open at the Hawkesbury Regional Gallery in Windsor)
Rowan-Kelly's seductive Arctic land and seascapes (pictured, above) can be seen at Danks Street Depot ll Gallery http://www.2danksstreet.com.au/ and offer deceptively simple views of what initially seems the bleakest habitat imaginable - including this photographer's take on the Arctic's often playful, sometimes menacing inhabitants. Polar bears emerge as the main stars in her pictures as they frolic in water so cold humans would perish in minutes. Rowan-Kelly has captured the bears' massive, yet graceful forms along with their families (pictured, left) with one memorable picture showing two adult bears in active dialogue above the exposed spine of a dead whale. (pictured, right) Rowan-Kelly also makes extensive use of panoramas to address the vastness of her northern world. Ultimately hers is an affectionate view of an environment that defies its apparent hostility. Rowan-Kelly's fine prints were made by master digital printer Warren Macris. http://www.gicleeaustralia.com/ Until March 5
Richard Green (pictured) declared, as I waited to open his well attended exhibition at the Hawkesbury Regional Gallery http://www.hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au/services/cultural that he hoped his pictures gave a sense of "actually standing within the landscape" he sought to portray. As I walked around this elegantly curated display of large, seamlessly computer-stitched colour panoramas, some over four metres wide (taken with professional Canon cameras with 'L' lenses http://www.canon.com.au/ ) , there was a tangible sense of having your vision embraced by whatever scene Green chose to photograph. This was particularly evident in a subtly observed landscape from Western Australia, in front of which I had photographed Green. (pictured, above) Not only was the land's contorted surface exposed but the extended tonal range captured in Green's digital image gave appropriate weight to both the deep shadows and bright highlights of inland Australia. Both Rowan-Kelly and Green had made images that conformed to the description of a 'planetary landscape' - giving the viewer of their photographs a sense of actually standing in a remote, defining location somewhere on the surface of our sphere - without resorting to visible cleverness or artifice. It was also pleasing to note how well patronised (pictured, the gallery before the opening speeches) Hawkesbury Regional Gallery was, as seen in this stitched panorama taken by Richard Green. After similar positive experiences with Broken Hill, Cowra and Manly, I remain convinced of the invaluable roles such galleries play. Until March 20
A Fine Farewell to a Remarkable Life

After opening Richard Green's exhibition I had just enough time to travel from the Hawkesbury Regional Galler in Windsor, expertly driven by a friend, and fine publicist for Sydney's MCA, Gaby Wilson, to the Balmain Town Hall for the final hour of a moving wake for British/Australian photojournalist Penny Tweedie http://pennytweedie.com/ who sadly died in January. The auditorium was full and there were many moving tributes from friends and colleagues. (Tweedie had also owned a terrace house in Balmain during her Australian life.) I had the opportunity to catch up with Penny's only son Ben, after many years. Ben Tweedie http://www.cycleexperience.com/ is now dedicated professionally to extolling the many and varied virtues of cycling. The Sydney Morning Herald had run an obituary I had written for Penny on the Saturday preceding the wake, using a fine portrait of the late photojournalist (pictured, above) taken by Sandy Edwards http://www.smh.com.au/national/obituaries/images-framed-by-compassion-20110218-1azl3.html
The Savage Poetry of Flight
I was also asked if I would speak at Gary Heery's exhibition of remarkable bird photographs at Sydney's Shapiro Gallery. http://www.shapiroauctioneers.com.au/ Heery is a photographer who consistently confounds expectations. Perhaps best known for his celebrity portraiture (Heery has photographed everyone from Madonna to Seinfeld's classic Fool - Michael Richards and, more recently, John Howard) Heery makes his living through the profitable triumvirate of editorial, advertising and corporate photography but, as he confided at the opening, is seduced by what the eye can't see - such as the astonishing speed at which birds beat their wings. And so Heery www.garyheery.com photographed the avian community using Sony DSLR's, Carl Zeiss lenses http://www.sony.com.au/article/334804/section/product/product/sal2470z and ultra high speed (1/30,000th of a second) flash. His feathered subjects ranged from those remarkable birds that defer to no one, Australia's Kookaburras, (pictured, above) an exquisite white Barn Owl (pictured, left), an acrobatic pas de deux by two snow white Doves and an unusual triptych of birds with their furled wings seen from behind. These three similarly hunched forms - of a Macaw, a Blue-winged Kookaburra and a Red-tailed Black Cockatoo - eerily resembled a trio of waiting, psychedelic angels. Heery's photographs were also presented in large, superb archival prints made by Warren Macris. Until March 6.
The Birth of Beatlemania in the U.S.

Tali Udovich's Blender Gallery www.blender.com.au continues their affectionate showing of historic moments from the history of rock n' roll with a selection of Curt Gunther's intimate photojournalistic observations of the Beatles on their first U.S. tour.With intimate access that hardly be imagined in today's corporate rock environment, Gunther's agile presence documents the legendary "Four" with knowing, sometimes ironic moments, recorded in classic 60's black and white photography. Until April 2.
Inside Two Fringe Festivals with Gary Cockburn

Adelaide photographer Gary Cockburn has an unusual visual signature; whether by instinct or intent, Cockburn's photographs consistently capture moments that seem less "decisive" and more extended than other photographers. Coupling this personalised visual grammar with his Nikon D700, this talented artist has been documenting Fringe Festivals from both Adelaide and Edinburgh in the UK for several years. Cockburn regards using the Nikon D700 DSLR as essential to the success of his project. "I couldn't have done it without the extraordinary low light performance this camera provided," declared the Adelaide photographer These resulting colour images (pictured, left and right) were on exhibition recently as part of Adelaide Fringe 2011, appropriately titled "Into The Fringe", in several separately displayed assemblages in the foyer of Adelaide's handsome and historic Town Hall in King William Street, Adelaide. I caught up with Cockburn for a coffee as he was dismantling his Type C metallic colour prints and noted the simple, evocative coverage he consistently achieved. During the recent Adelaide Fringe Festival Cockburn also documented, with his usual flair, one of the Fringe's trademark drawcards - Australia's remarkable burlesque performers - in "Strip The Light Fantastic" - featuring the elegant Gypsy Wood (pictured, right) and the luminous, fluorescent-lit stage presence created by Holly J'aDoll (pictured, above) And not content with having travelled extensively between Adelaide and Edinburgh to document the last three Fringe Festivals already, Cockburn is about to do it all again and capture the working lives of the remarkable artists who will make Adelaide and Edinburgh's next Fringe Festivals memorable. I suggested to Cockburn that this body of work, drawn from Scotland and Australia, should be preserved within the covers of an appropriately well designed and reproduced book. He agreed and the search for an appropriate publisher has now begun.
The Shock of the Old.

Darlinghurst's Meyer Gallery in Sydney www.meyergallery.com.au continues to explore the inherent beauty of printing techniques dating from photography's first, confident wave of discovery. Featuring fourteen artists (including Anthony Browell, Chia N-Lofqvist (pictured, left her Tri-Color Carbon print) Jill Lacina, Tony Peri (his Bromoil of a rock n' roll revival is pictured, right) Bob Kersey and Ellie Young, this exhibition celebrates, says gallery director Mary Meyer, "the broad spectrum of alternate photographic processes (and) the pictures they have made - by hand. And from the heart." Curated by Bob Kersey. Until March 13

Hamish Ta-Me Makes the National Photographic Portrait Prize Cut

I have just received this interesting, guileless portrait of Aboriginal model Samantha Harris from photographer Hamish Ta-Me www.shotbyhamish.com with the news that this talented photographer was 'stoked' that his image of Samantha had been selected for hanging in the prestigious exhibition in Canberra. Ta-Me's image reminds us that, with the recent success of Harris making the cover of VOGUE, indigenous stereotypes are crumbling.
"Received Moments" Reaches the Gold Coast
My forty-eight year retrospective "Received Moments", curated by Sarah Johnson of the Manly Art Gallery & Museum, is now reaching the end of its run at the fourth last venue in its Australian tour, the Gold Coast Art Centre http://www.theartscentregc.com.au/ part of the regional galleries network. I travelled to the Gold Coast for the opening and gave two gallery talks. I was, as always, delighted with the different, and original 'hang' of the show provided by each venue. Director Virginia Rigney and her staff created an unusually intimate display. Photographer and Arts Producer Michael Snelling opened the exhibition with considerable generousity of spirit on March 4th, regaling the audience with many events in my earlier life that I thought had been long forgotten. (The next venue is at Maitland Regional Gallery, opening on April 1st, followed by Orange Regional Gallery before ultimately arriving at the Flinders Art Centre in Adelaide in October 2011. From "Received Moments" (pictured left) acclaimed Australian actor Leo McKern (1920-2002) Braidwood, NSW 1994 and (pictured, right) Wilson's Promontory, Victoria 1969
Text: Copyright Robert McFarlane 2011 www.robertmcfarlanephotos.com

Different Photographers, Varied Yearnings

2011-02-18T00:46:00.000-08:00

Three very different photographers, coincidentally all represented by Stills Gallery http://www.stillsgallery.com.au/ are showing in Sydney and exploring distinctly varied visual yearnings. Robyn Stacey brilliantly uses computer-constructed photographs to give us her view - by digital proxy - of what colonial Australians might have seen once they entered a room, sat down to eat, or simply contemplated a beautifully imagined still-life suggesting a scene from the 19th century (pictured, above) Stacey's images give sight to memory, substance to the half-remembered and always with the razor sharp definition of digital imaging. These yearning instants are passionate attempts to plumb echoes from dead eras - in the same way we might respond, for example, to the scent left by the emotional scenes in artist Caravaggio's paintings. Polixeni Papapetrou yearns to create a different reality again - constructing dreamscapes that fall somewhere between Rene Magritte, Lewis Carroll.(pictured, above right) and Tennessee Williams (pictured, left) Using her children Olympia and Solomon, Papapetrou populates her scenarios as extravagantly as Lewis Carroll once cast his Wonderland for Alice Liddell (a mythology Papapetrou has also previously explored in her photographs) Papapetrou's immaculate photographs are, however, pregnant with enigmatic, sometimes menacing scenarios. The Australian Centre for Photography http://www.acp.org.au/ have presented a retrospective of Papapetrou's personal vision in which the arc of a remarkable career is made visible. The third artist, William Yang, appears to yearn for childhood (pictured, left) his Chinese identity, and love. In "Old New Borrowed Blue" at Stills Gallery, we discern a quest every bit as intense as those of either Stacey and Papapetrou. Yang guilelessly sifts through past and present experience using a kind of GPS of the heart. His homosexuality is unsentimentally realised (pictured, right) as well as the experiences of an Australian childhood (pictured, left) in which it came as a surprise, some years after his birth, to discover he was Oriental by race. There is ruthless honesty and candour to Yang's imagery, as always, whether examining his sexuality, mundane meals he has eaten, faces of past lovers or the memories of childhood. (pictured, left) There are also Yang pictures which sneak up on the viewer, such as a delicately toned B&W close-up, taken in 1992, of a right hand (pictured, right) clearly unmarked by hard labour which, we discover on reading Yang's caption, belongs to the Dalai Lama. Nothing, as Vladimir Nabokov was fond of saying, is trivial. "The divinity lies in the detail." Yang's pictures can be seen at Stills Gallery - until February 26 Robyn Stacey's works can be viewed at the excellent "Curious Colony .... Wunderkammer" group exhibition at the S. Ervin Gallery http://www.nationaltrust.com.au/properties/gallery/default_Upcoming%20Exhibitions.asp sadly only until February 20. Polixeni Papapetrou's photographs are on show at the ACP until March 12.
A Planetary Postscript ...
The Australian Centre for Photography are also showing the first photographs I have seen that made me instantly think of Antoine de St Exupery's epic children's novella "The Little Prince". Catherine Nelson's "Creation" series portrays the world on an unashamedly absurd scale - tiny spheres in which continents have been replaced by green, limpid pools and trees and grass sprout like stubble on a planet resembling a black bowling ball. And yet ... there is still something essentially photographic about Nelson's fantasies and her seductive exploiting of the "anything goes" constructs available to digital photo-artists today. Until March 12.
It's Head On Time Again!
I ran into Moshe Rosenzveig at Jim Anderson's excellent retrospective, Lampoon - An Historical Art Trajectory (1970-2010) (pictured) at the Tin Sheds Gallery at Sydney University. It was a emotional reunion at the gallery which featured a visual avalanche of works by Anderson, the former art editor of Australia's pioneering satirical magazine Oz. Anderson is also a passionate diarist with a camera and anyone contemplating a visit to the Tin Sheds http://faculty.arch.usyd.edu.au/art_workshop/Tinsheds.2002.html should allow time to trawl through what seemed like thousands of photographs. There are also many much larger works (pictured, above) which delineate Anderson's passionate, sensual imagination. I met a number of friends from four decades ago who were present, such as the acclaimed poet Robert Adamson (pictured) pioneering 1960's light show designer Roger Foley (a.k.a. L.S.D. Fogg), with his charming fiance Francesca.(pictured) Rosenzveig, an always passionate advocate for photography, reminded me again that anyone contemplating entering Head On's Portrait Competition should get their entries in soon. Details may be found at http://headon.com.au/ and entries close on March 13, 2011
Copyright Robert McFarlane 2011.

Big Pictures/Tiny Cameras

2011-01-27T20:58:00.000-08:00

Annie Leibovitz: "A Photographer's Life" at the MCA
Sydney is again the site of two of the most important exhibitions seen this year - Annie Leibovitz's sprawling retrospective "A Photographer's Life" at the Museum of Contemporary Art http://www.mca.com.au/ and Jeff Carter's sadly posthumous survey of his life's concerns at the NSW State Library entitled "Beach, Bush + Battlers". For forty years, Leibovitz has been the great entertainer of American editorial photography, firstly with Jann Wenner's pioneering rock newspaper Rolling Stone, and more recently with Vanity Fair magazine. This MCA exhibition details the extreme range of imagery of which the American photographer is capable: from the most glossy, entertaining recreations of Hollywood glamour using contemporary luminaries such as Nicole Kidman in 2003 (pictured, above) to the tragic calligraphy of war, personified by Leibovitz's simple, graphic black and white 1993 image of a child's cycle lying forlornly next to bloodstains left by a sniper's bullet in Sarajevo. (pictured, above right) The archive produced by this unique artist is broad, deep and occasionally merely diarist, as in the generous selections of images from her family. "A Photographer's Life" presents one woman's collage of imagery made as the last decades of the 20th Century faded into the first five years of the 21st. Between fame, war, trivia and tragedy an essence of our contemporary existence emerges - and ample evidence of an artist struggling to balance her links with celebrity against her expressive sojourns exploring the most tragically real of days. Until March 27.
Peter Carrette's Remarkable Dream
Adelaide professional photographer Milton Wordley www.wordley.com.au dropped in the other day with a copy of the order of service for the funeral of Peter Carrette, held recently in Sydney. As I wrote in a previous blog, there were many surprising facets to Carrette's life - as a photographer, mentor and a humanitarian. At his funeral, mourners for the charismatic Carrette were invited by his family not to send flowers, but instead donate to Krousar-Thmey the Cambodian orphanage this photographer had visited and helped support. Their website http://krousar-thmey.org/ (Krousar-Thmey means "New Family" in Khmer) gives a detailed insight into this organisation's realistic ambitions (including literacy for the blind, pictured right) for their many unfairly distressed children. Clearly Carrette believed no child should live their life with the deprivations faced by orphans in Cambodia. To transfer money in AUD, please contact the ANZ Banking Group and quote the Swift Code ANZBAU3M.
Jeff Carter's Beach, Bush + Battlers comes to SLNSW
Photographer Jeff Carter (pictured, below right) was, by his own admission - and the wording on his letterhead for many years - Australia's photographer by appointment to "The Poor and Unknown". Sadly Carter died at the age of 82 on October 25 last year. This photographer understood deeply, from personal experience 'humping his swag' around "The Bush" as a young man, what hard work meant (pictured left, his iconic "Tobacco Road, 1956") and throughout his long career he never lost his rapport with Australian working men and women. This affinity is ever present in his photographs, adding to their already powerful archival value. Curated by Sandra Byron, "Beach, Bush + Battlers" is not to be missed. There will be a panel discussion on February 18 at 6pm at the SLNSW http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/ to acknowledge Jeff Carter's contribution to Australian documentary photography. http://www.jeffcarterphotos.com/ Until February 20.
Distinguished Photojournalist Penny Tweedie dies. (1940-2011)
Penny Tweedie (pictured, left) has died in Britain on January 24, aged 70. It often seemed to me as if this remarkable, talented photojournalist had seen and done everything - and perhaps knew everyone. Tweedie had, at her considerable peril, covered several wars from the Middle East to Bangladesh, and made enduring portraits of celebrities as wildly differing as Twiggy, Muammar Qaddafi, Princess Diana and John Lennon. I once worked at the Daily Telegraph Colour Magazine in London in the early 1970's when Penny Tweedie was also there and discovered by accident how far this diminutive, elegant, feisty woman would go to complete an assignment. One morning I walked into Picture Editor Patricia Elkins' office and was surprisingly offered a job photographing the CIA in London, which I knew Penny Tweedie had originally been commissioned to do. However, as Tweedie worked on her last task, photographing illegal airport abortion touts at Heathrow, she been caught and savagely beaten by thugs, leaving her unable to start the next assignment. An Australian photojournalist based in Hong Kong, Bob Davis, http://www.bobdavis-photographer.com/ has just sent me this photograph (pictured, right) he made of Tweedie in dialogue with the late George Rodger, legendary British documentary photographer and co-founder (With Robert Capa, David "Chim Seymour" and Henri Cartier-Bresson) of Magnum Photos.http://agency.magnumphotos.com/about/history The British Guardian newspaper also recently published the following tribute by Mike Wells http://www.mwellsphoto.com/ and Duncan Campbell: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/jan/20/penny-tweedie-obituary
Discovering Indigenous Australia
In 1975 Tweedie flew to Alice Springs as part of a BBC documentary film crew filming the story of Burke and Wills. This assignment would change her life. Tweedie discovered Aboriginal culture and began a lifelong commitment to documenting indigenous Australia. Tweedie moved to Australia and several affirmative books exploring Aboriginal society followed, including This My Country (William Collins) in 1985 and Spirit of Arnhem Land (New Holland) in 1998. Penny Tweedie's enduring legacy can be viewed at http://pennytweedie.com/
She is survived by her son Ben, mother Anne and brothers James and Charles.
Point & Shoot goes Wide & Fast
Having a fast medium wide-angle lens has been part of my documentary camera outfit for over forty years - first with an early version of the classic Nippon Kogaku Auto-Nikkor 28/2 - and later, after I switched to Canon SLR's, their fine FD 28/2 SSC Canon. In the late 1970's I also bought an early version of the 35/1.4 Summilux-M for my battered Leica M2. The Leitz lens tended to flare when used wide open (as can be seen, below, in a photograph I made of that remarkable performer and writer, the late Nick Enright, at Sydney's Nimrod Theatre in 1978) but from f2 on, the Summilux's definition, contrast and colour were wonderful. Such medium wide-angle lenses broadly approximate the eye's main area of comprehension and their added speed gave me confidence to work in low light levels and still make sharp pictures - whether using either a SLR or Rangefinder camera. Now a new generation of digital compact cameras, nominally considered point & shoot, are emerging that feature wide, fast and sharp lenses - ideal for carrying when a bag full of cameras is inappropriate. These modestly priced cameras are eminently pocketable and produce results that are clearly of publication quality. Though more expensive than P&S digital cameras with slower lenses, a camera such as Canon's Powershot S95 (pictured, above left) is still well below the price of a 28f2 lens for a DLSR. I recently spent time using the Canon S95, an upgrade of their S90, and found the results from this camera impressive. Old photojournalistic habits die hard, so most of the photographs taken with the S95 were made at the zoom lens's widest focal length and at its maximum aperture of f2. Even a test I made of the macro abilities of the S95 - using a rose from my garden, with the lens set at f2 delivered more than acceptable definition (pictured, above right). No lens is really worth having (with the exception of that Summilux I owned) unless it performs well when used wide open. One of the hardest tests I then gave the S95 was a portrait I made of a friend, psychologist Michelle Sexton, as she stood, heavily backlit, before a window. I also had to add 2/3 of a stop exposure compensation - easily set by rotated a wheel on the back of the camera. The result (pictured, above left) was sharp with no visible flare. Controls for this camera will be familiar to anyone with a passing knowledge of digital cameras (especially Canon's cameras www.canon.com.au) and I confess I have yet to open the instruction book. The Canon Powershot S95 lens has an image stabilized 3.8X zoom where the maximum aperture drops to f4.9 at its telephoto equivalent focal length of 105mm. The S95 also has the ability to shoot HD video and has RAW capture. As if to prove Canon are serious about low light shooting the S95 can make pictures at up to ISO 3200 at full 10 Megapixel resolution. The Powershot S95 is currently selling at retailers such as Ted's Cameras www.teds.com.au/ for $569.95
A Surprise Lunch With Sculptor Ken Unsworth
During my last visit to Sydney I received a surprise invitation from arts journalist Ann Berriman to come to a lunch at short notice with eminent Australian sculptor Ken Unsworth. (pictured, left) A photographer friend, the late Robert Walker, had once shown me part of the extensive documentation he had produced of Unsworth's remarkable vision and I soon found myself sitting opposite the 80 year old artist, who discussed his art with the enthusiasm of someone sixty years younger. As I love the diarist nature of photography I asked Unsworth whether I could photograph him and whether I could publish the picture in my next blog. "Do anything you like with the pictures! I am from the generation that just wants things seen," said Unsworth with some generousity. http://www.boutwelldrapergallery.com.au/artist-profile-detail.php?idArtistInfo=203 Again, I set the S95 to aperture priority and the lens to wide-angle, and f2 (the latter by simply twisting the knurled ring around the lens) and made an un-posed portrait of the artist sitting in a naturally lit room at the rear of Berriman's house. The Canon S95 demonstrated how tenacious is the lens's resolving power when used at its limits. But you be the judge. In future blogs I will look at some of the S95's competitors - the Lumix LX5, Samsung's EX1 and the recently released Olympus XZ-1.
Surrealism's Enduring Appeal
Of all the revolutionary art movements of the 20th Century, Surrealism has endured to the point that it has now entered everyday speech in the 21st Century. During the recent disastrous Queensland floods, television showed video footage taken with mobile phones of cars being tossed along like toys by torrents of flood water. While watching, I just managed to catch the voice of an amazed onlooker who said: "Man, this is Surreal ... " as a car bounced over a tree protruding out of the rushing water. Mischievously, I noted how his first thought was to say 'Surreal' rather than 'Cubist'. During a recent extended assignment in Western Australia I saw a remarkable photograph, constructed by digital means, by Perth artist Gary Parris. Titled "Diamonds and Heart", it reminded me again that as artists and communicators we are never far from the language of dreams, with Surrealism still a dominant influence when a picture needs to go beyond the literal. As Parris www.gapsworld.com admitted, "Surrealism plays a key role in my ... art. I love creating photorealistic images that have surreal forms that mean something to me and maybe something to the viewer too. Its the subconscious getting out through the artistic creativity of photography or through software to create 3D photo realistic images that model nature itself. I like the added element of trying to work out what the subconscious is telling me without the full conscious reality. (Salvador) Dali is by far my most influential artist.”
Discovering HP Photo Books
While in Sydney, I was invited to spend Christmas with friends in Bowral. As usual I carried a small point and shoot digital camera (this time a Samsung WB500 with an excellent 10X Schneider Zoom lens) I made only a handful of pictures of the enjoyable day and a half I spent in the country, but my companion Louise Havekes supplemented my meagre take with her series of photographs taken with an Olympus film (!) camera. As a gesture of gratitude to our generous hosts, we decided to have a book made of our collective 'take'. I didn't want to use any form of half-tone reproduction (with its inherently intrusive screen pattern) so I thought I would try HP Photobooks http://www8.hp.com/au/en/home.html available from Kmart http://www.kmart.com.au/ and other outlets. After downloading our selection of images onto a Sandisk 4GB Cruzer Blade USB drive I took it to Kmart. Our helpful salesperson Kelly guided me through a series of touchscreen activated menus (some manipulation of photographs was possible, coupled with a choice of simple, graphic layouts) and our sixteen page A4 book, complete with a spring-loaded maroon cloth cover (and a window through which the first page image was visible) was printed and assembled in an hour. HP claim 200 year archival permanence for their (presumably pigment) inks and the cost was a modest $25. My only reservation was in the choice of paper HP offers, a basic semi-gloss, fairly lightweight stock. A heavier paper stock, with a choice of surfaces from matte-art paper to glossy would be a sensible addition to what was a very positive experience.
Text: Copyright Robert McFarlane 2011

Sydney and its Photographic Tribes

2010-12-06T21:21:00.000-08:00

Sydney is always rewarding to visit - to see friends and enjoy the sense of community that now exists among photographers in that city. In November I returned to Sydney, following that bleak avenue of warehouses, vacant lots and late night service stations in Waterloo (pictured, below) to where I was staying in Redfern. I had come to Sydney primarily to open the "Black and Light" exhibition mounted by the industrious and talented Primrose Park Photographic Group ww w.primrose-park.com.au at the Don Bank Museum in North Sydney. This modest house/museum/gallery is the oldest wooden dwelling on Sydney's North Shore and proved an appropriate setting for the photography of Jill Lacina, Tony Peri and Graham Butler. Lacina had previous exhibited a series of Cyanotypes at Primrose Park but this time showed an essay using primarily silver gelatin prints and photogravures illustrating those ghastly calibrations of human corruption - World War 2's death camps. (pictured, below right) "I wanted to remind people of our humanity," Lacina (pictured, left, leaving the Don Bank Museum) remarked simply at the opening. Peri showed a series of prints made using his now familiar antique Bromoil process (pictured, below left) derived from photographs taken on a recent trip to Italy and Hungary (Peri's late father Otto was Hungarian) Graham Butler's immaculate traditional black and white prints explored the British seashore with simple economy. "Black and Light" finishes on January 30. (There will be an artists' talk on Sunday, January 16th) While I was in Sydney I also travelled to Cowra for the opening of my exhibition "Received Moments"(pictured. left) I quickly discovered it is no longer easy to go directly to significant regional centres such as Cowra and was forced to travel by train from Sydney to Blayney where I was met at the station and driven on to the town. On the way to Blayney, I saw vivid symptoms of the breaking of the drought. Instead of the desiccated landscape we have become used to, what I viewed through the window of the XPT train as it passed beyond Lithgow was a luxuriant green land, with flowing watercourses, contented cattle and punctuated by trees (which I could not identify) shedding their blossoms on the land like cornflour on baize. It also occurred to me while on the XPT that having once experienced elite European train travel (In 1969 I travelled on the original Orient Express from Istanbul to London with my first wife, the artist Kate Burness) Australia could benefit from a massive upgrading of our adequate, but slow and unremarkable rail system. In Cowra, regional gallery Director Brian Langer had, with his enthusiastic staff and their many motivated volunteers, mounted Curator Sarah Johnson's work from Manly Gallery & Museum handsomely. The opening was well attended and on the following day, a Saturday, I gave a floor-talk for Cowra citizens that was supposed to last twenty minutes. Country people seemed both curious and courteous and the dialogue we established (their questions were thoughtful and abundant) lasted two hours after which I was driven back through the freezing landscape to wait for the XPT at Blayney, and travel on to Sydney. "Received Moments" opens next at the Gold Coast Art Gallery on January 15th.
Photographing Aboriginal Artistry in Motion
One of the ongoing joys of Australian sport is the contribution, at the highest level, of Aboriginal athletes - from Eddie Gilbert (the Cherbourg man who bowled Bradman, and was subsequently vilified as a 'chucker' for such heresy) to Lionel Rose and today's startlingly gifted Wallaby Kurtley Beale - a superstar in the making. Sydney documentary photographer Amanda James has gone back to the heartland of Aboriginal sport and photographed Rugby League in the local competitions that nurture future champions - through such celebrated teams as the Redfern All Blacks (their team slogan: "Keep The Ball In Motion!") I once had the privilege of photographing this remarkable group playing at Redfern Oval against a North Shore team. A man from the Redfern team proudly told me that the ages of their players ranged from 17 to 54 - and that four had played professionally for Australia! Amanda James' photographs, curated by Arthur Chan, can be seen at Customs House, Circular Quay, opening on December 9 and continuing until January 30. Her pictures can also be seen online at www.studioasu.com from December 11.
Staying In A House Littered With Still Life Images
While in Sydney I stayed at the home of a friend, Louise Havekes, widow of that remarkable portraitist and theatre photographer, Robert Walker. With her artistic heritage (her aunt Elsa Russell, was a pioneering Australian painter of real talent) and three talented daughters, of which the eldest, Saskia, runs the elite Potts Point florist Grandiflora http://grandiflora.net/ the Redfern house is always filled with art, flowers and beautifully arranged fruit. Subsequently I found it difficult to resist taking pictures of roses that may come from Ecuador, exotic orchids and fruit thoughtfully arranged (pictured, left) throughout the house. While staying in Redfern I also had a surprise visit from photographer Belinda Mason (pictured, right) who came to show me a lenticular 3D image of a portrait she had made of me previously. Not used to seeing myself in three dimensions and many times life size (pictured, right) I was rendered speechless.
MARIAN DREW flies free at ROBIN GIBSON GALLERY
Marian Drew continues to follow her elegant, dark path to exploring the nuances of bird life - and death (pictured, above) Artist are defined by their commitment to a vision, no matter where it may lead them. Marian Drew is just such a dedicated person and her work at Robin Gibson Gallery http://robingibson.net/exhibitions/marian-drew in Sydney (which finishes this week) is remarkable for its poetic expression. One of several Australian photo-artists who concentrate on exploring still life (Robyn Stacey and Anna-Maryke are two notable others) Drew's elegant necrogenic tableaux should not to be missed.
The Passing of Jeff Carter and Peter Carrette
Two very different photographers have sadly left us. Jeff Carter, (pictured, left) whom I was pleased to say I knew for over forty years, died in October. He was 82. I wrote this obituary for Carter in Timelines for the Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/national/obituaries/a-herald-for-australias-working-class-20101105-17hes.html Peter Carrette (pictured, right) who I knew less well, died only weeks ago. He was 63. Carter loved the bush - and the city - and will be missed for his compassionate, honest vision of Australians everywhere. A retrospective exhibition "Beach, Bush and Battlers" drawn from Carter's remarkable archive (and curated by Sandra Byron) will open on January 4th at the State Library of NSW.http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/ Peter Carrette, known as "King of the Paps" (Paparazzi) was far more than the intrusive personality such professionals are generally taken for. Since his death, I have had a stream of calls from people Carrette had assisted, mentored - quietly and without any publicity. When I last saw him, I had just stepped off a flight to Sydney and was waiting outside the airport for a taxi. Carrette suddenly appeared with a camera and I knew he was on the prowl. "I can't stay and talk. (Brazilian supermodel) Giselle Bundchen has just arrived from London and I know which flight she's on." And then he was gone.
REPORTAGE is now 10!
While in Sydney, I also attended the screenings and exhibition associated with that great advocate for fine photojournalism, REPORTAGE. This year, their tenth anniversary, brought an unusually staged exhibition and several screenings of photographers' work, to the National Art School, in Darlinghurst. This institution has the feeling of an enclosed, colonial community with its sturdy walls and classic 19th century sandstone buildings. Photojournalist Glenn Lockitch, recently back from documenting the ramming of the radical catamaran Ady Gil by Japanese whalers in Antarctic waters, mentioned casually that the National Art School complex was originally a jail - and that they used to hang prisoners not far from where the photographers of REPORTAGE www.reportage.com.au displayed their pictures. It is worth commenting on the way these prints were made and displayed. Printed using weatherproof inks and paper by by master fine art printer Warren Macris http://www.gicleeaustralia.com/ these photographs survived wind and rain to carry their message to enthusiastic patrons. One of the driving forces of REPORTAGE, Jacqui Vicario, then mentioned to me that the CEO of Contact Images in New York, Robert Pledge, had been delayed for an extra day in Beijing, and would I mind saying a few words to the eloquent Mr Pledge's expectant audience on opening night. Having contributed an essay to the book of the first 10 years of REPORTAGE, I couldn't refuse so I made some hurried notes on goals met and achievements hopefully to come, and with Christopher Stewart of the National Art School, opened the event.
The Occasional Image
This space is dedicated to images which deserve their own level of attention. This picture, by David Seymour, a talented photographer from Young, New South Wales, caught my attention when I was visiting Cowra's excellent regional gallery for "Received Moments". Seymour showed me a number of images he had made using Infrared film which I found interesting. This image, however, resonated with a book project I am currently working on in Perth which involves documenting mental illness. Seymour explained this picture's importance simply:"A couple of k's out of town is a lovely picnic area called Chinaman's Dam ... where the original photo was taken. It's an Infrared taken at 1pm on a beautiful day. The bubble and moon were added via my software and the moon and reflection in the bubble were given a yellow tinge to tie it all together. This image was created to share with people the path I have travelled with my depression over the past decade. I have been doing photography as a hobby for more than thirty years and it has been the one constant throughout my life which helps me to keep focussed and continue enjoying life."
BOOKS for CHRISTMAS
There is an abundance of books to be recommended for the festive season. Not only have REPORTAGE published the best of their ten years of existence (through Momento www.momento.com.a u) but Thames & Hudson, historically one of the great publishers of photography, have brought out two contrasting books on the joys (and otherwise) of photographing on the street. Perhaps this photographic genre's greatest exponent is the centre of Peter Galassi's book, Henri Cartier-Bresson - The Modern Century while Sophie Howarth and Stephen McLaren's STREET PHOTOGRAPHY NOW shows how this timeless way of photographing has evolved. Australian photographers are well represented through Trent Parke, Narelle Autio and Jesse Marlow. Parke's abrasive use of light illuminates his street observations while Autio's classic, ironic image of an angel stepping into a taxi is also present. Marlow's droll observations of the physically damaged (from his acclaimed book "Wounded" are also here. Mimi Mollica produces a 2008 colour image taken in Dakar, Senegal which was instantly reminiscent of one of Henri Cartier-Bresson's timeless American images. In Mollica's image a man is glancing towards a young African woman from a flight of stairs. But the real revelation is the surreal humour consistently captured in the mostly colour images of this book. Time and again we are amazed at follies embraced publicly by humanity. This is a worthy addition to this increasingly threatened genre of photography. What are our political leaders afraid that we will discover and photograph on the street? The other book worth looking at is Focus on Australia, (pictured, left) a completely commercial venture, aimed squarely at promoting the cause of Panasonic's Lumix digital cameras. If you look past the sometimes garish landscapes and sentimental sunset images, there are some remarkable pictures showcasing the fine definition and colour rendition of digital photography. I enjoyed Bill Bachman's contrasting of opposites in a young girl and her pink poodle (pictured, below left) compared with the grit, grime and sweat of a shearing shed (pictured, right) That well known lover of panoramic imagery, Ken Duncan, is one of the forces behind this book in much more than a cosmetic way. His Walk a While charity http://www.kenduncan.com/index.php/walk-a-while, which benefits indigenous children, is a tangible beneficiary of sales of this sometimes lush look at Australia. Duncan adds an uncommon spontaneity to his photograph of two kangaroos bounding towards the coast in South Australia (pictured, right) His temporary waterfall cascading down the side of Uluru also surprises. This book is clearly an intelligent, practical way of promoting photography using digital cameras. Not only are well known professionals such as Bachman and Duncan present but also amateurs contribute. This seems eminently preferable to endlessly marketing cameras based purely on price, features and megapixel envy. Focus on Australia is available online at www.kenduncan.com and at all Ken Duncan galleries for $59.95.
Shows Not to Miss before Christmas
In 1985 photographer Juno Gemes http://www.junogemes.com documented the handover of perhaps indigenous Australia's most visible sacred site - Uluru - to its original owners. Her black and white photo essay is currently on exhibition at the site of this historic event - Uluru. Entitled "Sacred Ground - Uluru Handback 1985", these historic photographs can be seen at the Uluru Kata Tjuta Culture Centre - Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park, NT. Until 31st January 2011.

Tali Udovich, the energetic Director of Blender Gallery http://www.blender.com.au/blender-gallery-s-greatest-hits/ with its incorporated Just Shoot Lomo Camera shop, has again turned to the icons of rock for her latest exhibition. On Thursday, December 2nd, Udovich is opening Blender Gallery's Greatest Hits, featuring classic rock photography made on and off stage. If you could live with your own framed portrait of John Lennon or Queen looking over you, this is the show for you. There will also be a performance from the boy/girl duo The Falls, showcasing classic rock and their own compositions. www.musicfromthefalls.com/ At Mary Meyer Gallery, small is everything in her "Small Show" featuring such Meyer Gallery www.me yergallery.com.au stalwarts as Ellie Young, Jill Lacina, Bob Kersey (his remarkable sea/landscape pictured, above right) Kate Baker and Renee French. This show will be open until December 24 "Earth, Air, Flower, Water" (pictured, left) is also opening at the Superintendent's Residence, Paddington Gates, Centennial Park venue featuring photographs by, among others, Peter Solness. This exhibition is associated with HeadOn Portrait Competition. Cam Neville www.camneville.com perhaps better known as a fine-art digital printer, is showing his own work at Storm Gallery, 65-67 Foveaux Street, Surry Hills in an exhibition "The Nature Table". Neville presents tiny fragments of nature (pictured, right) at their most desiccated, but surprisingly monumental. There is a meditative quality to these images, made after Neville was severely injured in a car crash. Working on this project became, says Neville, "a matter of life and death. I cannot stress how important this process was to my recovery - and to my development as a photographer." Until December 17th.
At Point Light Gallery www.pointlight.com.au/ its co-founder Gordon Undy, that enduring Australian pioneer of traditional fine art photography is showing a series of natural and man-made landscapes, made in Australia and overseas. Anyone interested in the finesse involved in traditional forms of photography (pictured, left and right) should find this exhibition, Point Light's 100th, rewarding. At Point Light Gallery, 50 Reservoir Street, Surry Hills. Until December 19th. Finally don't miss Annie Leibovitz's sprawling retrospective, "A Photographer's Life" at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, Anton Bruehl's exhibition http://nga.gov.au/Exhibition/BRUEHL/at the National Gallery of Australia and Martin Schoeller's confronting "Close Up" exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery - both in Canberra.
Copyright Robert McFarlane www.robertmcfarlanephotos.com 2010

Stephen Dupont's Epic Afghanistan Odyssey

2010-10-21T21:18:00.000-07:00

Afghanistan: The Perils of Freedom 1993 - 2009
This extraordinary exhibition may be one of the most intricately constructed displays ever seen at the Australian Centre for Photography http://ww w.acp.org.au/ Not only has photojournalist Stephen Dupont www.stephen dupont.com sought to encompass fifteen years of working in Afghanistan’s historically conflicted land, he has managed to display his photography in literally, a floor to ceiling, wall to wall tapestry of pictures. Reminiscent of another legendary exhibition (which I didn’t see personally, but saw much of its documentation) - by acclaimed French war photographer - Raymond Depardon) Dupont seeks to populate his exhibition with cast members of this ancient, ongoing drama - Afghan citizens, both armed and members of the public - and of course, the soldiers - as ever, from elsewhere. In this, Dupont departs from the traditions of previous war photographers who simply amplify the drama of war. Dupont clearly wishes to reveal which forces are in play and to understand, as much as possible, reasons for and possible resolutions to the conflict. To achieve this the Australian photographer employs an unusually varied visual grammar - from telling, almost 19th century style portraits of Afghan citizens (pictured, below left) using a medium format Polaroid camera to panoramic observations (pictured, above) made with a Hasselblad camera that are remarkably cinematic in their sweep. Dupont's observations belong more to the tradition of the late Philip Jones-Griffith’s epic book “Vietnam Inc.” than even Don McCullin’s highly charged, epic war observations. “I am a great fan of Jones-Griffiths,” says Dupont, “he went beyond the bang-bang - going behind closed doors - and also into combat to uncover the soul of the U.S. military machine ... and (finally) show what it was like to be a US soldier - giving a humanistic edge to something inhuman. Not just the power and the glory ... he (also) uncovered the grit and the filth of what was going on the villages. Jones-Griffiths was an activist who didn’t hold back ... he was an inspiration (to me).” Dupont (pictured, right, at the ACP) had followed conflict in Afghanistan since that country's war with the Russians. “After the revolution of the Mujahideen, I was inspired to go and see for myself,” says Dupont, “the (country’s) history had an impact (on me) even through Kipling’s “The Man Who Would Be King” - but I had no idea (photographing) Afghanistan would affect me so much. There was nowhere in the world like it. Something ... got into my soul. (And) I was achieving something historical that was not being recorded. I was photographing ... history and doing it for the people - who did not have a voice.” Even the U.S. Marines were given their voice by Dupont who asked individual soldiers to write in a small moleskin journal their answer to the simple question: “Why am I a Marine?” The pages of this journal occupy a large part of one wall at the ACP with Dupont adding that the original journal has now been acquired by the U.S. Library of Congress.
Afghanistan: The Perils of Freedom 1993 - 2009 is not an exhibition to simply walk through. It demands the visitor arrive, and take the time to meditate on fifteen years of hard, remarkable work by this talented, tenacious photographer - pictures illuminating the timeless ability humanity has to seek the last option of government - war - as a solution to political differences. “You have this incredibly beautiful country that could be opened (up) if it was peaceful. (But) I don’t see there being a resolution soon ... it seems that Afghanistan has never known anything but war. And it’s not just about Afghanistan anymore ...” Until November 20
NIKON WALKLEY AWARDS also at the ACP
Co-incidentally there is a major display of the finalists for the Nikon/Walkley Press Photography Awards http://www.walkleys.com/nikon-walkley-press-photography-awards also on view at the Australian Centre for Photography. It was noticeable the ongoing evolution of newspaper photographers into photojournalists with the presence of an agile, searching photo-essay (pictured, above) on Julia Gillard's ascent to power by the Daily Telegraph's Phil Hillyard. "I wanted to record the private moments as they happened," said Hillyard. While this kind of intimate photojournalistic coverage is common in U.S. Presidential politics, it was a revelation in Australia for the manner in which Hillyard's camera captured an abundance of seemingly trivial details in strong black and white images - such as the way the incoming Prime Minister cast aside her shoes in one picture. The increasingly visible role of our armed forces was also poignantly captured in Brendan McCarthy's award-winning regional observations. (pictured, right)
New Sydney Art space for Photography Opens Soon
Moshe Rosenzveig, the director of Head On http://www.headon.com.au/ and Peter Solness http://www.solness.com.au/ are opening a new gallery space sited within the handsome, Superintendent's Residence in Sydney's historic Centennial Park. "Because of the success of our last venture in May this year, during the Head On Photo Festival, the management of Centennial Park have invited us to create an exhibition program for this unique space," stated Rosenzveig. The new program will begin on Saturday, October 23rd with 23 images on show from Solness's impressive "Illuminated Landscape" series (pictured, left and right) Solness promises that "at least a third of these will be new works, created within the last three months" (Drinks will be offered on Sunday between 3-6pm)

David Roberts Faces His Mysteries At Point Light
Art is nothing if it doesn't confront our mysteries. Think of Surrealist painter Rene Magritte's lovers about to kiss, while their heads remain shrouded in fabric. Or Diane Arbus and her elliptical response to a question on what her photographs meant. "Why ... they're about recognizing what I've never seen!" And Edward Weston's famous (and sensuous) photograph of a capsicum that conveyed a Rodin torso as much as mere nutrition. There is a hidden calligraphy of form in David Roberts' photographs at Point Light http://www.pointlight.com.au/ (pictured) that suggests that this talented photographer is mining a familiar lode in photography - by exploring the camera's hidden vocabulary, abstraction. Robert's vision discerns portals in bleak facades, compositional rhythms in the human form (pictured, above) and our inevitable, ongoing fascination with mortality. His portrait of distinguished humanitarian lawyer (pictured, right) Julian Burnside, Hamlet-like in his contemplation of a skull - appears bleak at first - until we notice the fearless, granite disposition of the lawyer's gaze. My only reservation with this photographer's vision lies in the first artistic decisions Roberts makes. Sometimes they seem more urgent than considered, leaving the viewer to make a conscious effort to embrace his vision. Until November 14
Text Copyright Robert McFarlane www.robertmcfarlanephotos.com 2010

Visions of Steel, Flesh, Fire and Ice

2010-10-07T00:17:00.000-07:00

Nicholas May's almost Mythic look at Australia Day
"Sydney Life" has one of the most perfect venues in which to display the people's photographic view of the Harbour City. From the Archibald Fountain to Park Street a stroll along the central walkway of Hyde Park, (pictured, right) viewing well-printed, evocative, bedsheet size photographs taken of Sydney life, has now become a subtle, inner city Sydney pleasure. Even as my fellow judges - prolific photographer/curator http://www.arthere.com.au/Sandy Edwards and curator, distinguished author and environmental blogger Ace Bourke http://acebourke.wordpress.com/) were making our deliberations - it was, as always, a difficult choice) the walkway was full of life with families with young children, a talented busker singing a medley of Neil Young songs and a man blowing huge, colourful bubbles, some as long as a park bench. Watched over through the trees by the golden helmet of Centre Point tower (pictured) we ultimate chose Nicholas May's timeless observation of last year's Australia Day at Bondi Beach. (pictured) By common consent this picture almost chose itself with all three judges agreeing May had taken "a sculptural, deeply unsentimental look at Australians at play (showing) the cultural ambiguities found on Sydney's most famous beach." and earned his generous $10,000 prize and one of Sony's newest digital cameras - the NEX5. (pictured) http://www.sony.com.au/section/home "Sydney Life is a signature event of Art&About www.artandabout.com.au Until October 24
An Occasional Picture - Could This Be The Eye of God?
"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy"
Act 1, Scene 5. "Hamlet"
by William Shakespeare

When I first saw this picture in the New York Times it reminded me, once again, of the divinity to be found within nature - whether viewing living coral under a microscope at 100X magnification, as I once did at Heron Island when I was half a century younger, and then having the magnification suddenly increased - revealing a completely different marine garden. Or contemplating how faint the skeins of electricity are that we know must control a tiny insect's locomotion. Film footage of sunspots unleashing almost incomprehensible power always gets my attention but this recent (July 1,2, 2010) colour photograph - the sharpest yet made using visible light - employing a 'deformable mirror' and 'adaptive' optics, by Professor Philip R. Goode and his Big Bear Solar Observatory team at the New Jersey Institute of Technology http://www.njit.edu/news/2010/2010-292.php - had an intimate, different kind of mystery. I thought simultaneously of flower petals, the eye's iris or, more ominously, a dark portal to another dimension. It also occurred to me that despite its golden aura, this picture seemed as much about the power the sun was concealing beneath the sunspot; and that ultimately there was no real scale that could be applied to this image (even knowing NJIT's camera can cover 50 miles of the sun's surface) The meaning of this picture then eluded further poetic thought, whether summoned up through art - or science - or even Shakespeare. My thanks to Peter Jensen, lover of the Bard, for remembering the perfect quote to affix to this picture.
POST SCRIPT - From PROF. GOODE
No sooner had I posted this blog about the extraordinary sunspot photographs by Prof. Philip R. Goode and the Big Bear Solar Observatory, than that professor has written a generous note and sent another, equally remarkable sunspot image (pictured, above) with a comment that Shakespeare's words "bring to my mind another image of the same sunspot, but off-centre and somewhat more in the 'heavens' of the solar atmosphere," according to the Professor, adding, "the black hair-like strands are about 50 km across and are jets arising from the bright magnetic features at the edge of the spot."
Art and the Bush at Point Light
Landscape photographer David Tatnall treads lightly on the land he photographs. By allowing his pictures to be used for environmental campaigns Tatnall clearly practises what he preaches. In "Field of View" Tatnall's first exhibition at Point Light Gallery www.pointlight.com.au a seductive photographic aesthetic emerges. This photographer's black and white pictures are well composed and use such now familiar camera grammar as shutter speeds so low the flow of water against a rocky shoreline is reduced to snow-white, fluffy plasma.(pictured, below) But definitely seductive to the eye. Tatnall essentially presents a personal artistic dialogue with the Australian landscape. His camera doesn't intrude beyond seeking strong compositional coherence of what lies before him - artistic appreciation for merely being present on the land. As such they are rewarding to the viewer and follow a well known artistic path, but one quite different to a bushwalker/photographer's pictures I recently saw. As I read the journal, in words and pictures, of a group of quite senior South Australian men and women who had just completed the 1200 km "Heysen Trail" walk from Cape Jervis to Parachilna Gorge, I came across two colour pictures which greatly interested me. One showed a small clearing beyond which a tight copse of curved gum trees obscured the horizon. In the foreground, almost tonally invisible against the red earth, was a small, vigilant kangaroo. Immediately I felt part of this scene. The second picture was even more pedestrian, (an appalling pun considering both pictures were taken by one of the bushwalkers, Helen Thomas) and showed an upward slope intermittently populated by small, thin trees, rocks and tiny yellow wildflowers. (pictured, left) I was entranced by this picture's undiluted rendering of the Australian landscape without needing to reference more elegant (and established) ways of seeing. "I had stopped walking for a moment and suddenly realised I was in a garden," remembered the bushwalker, Helen Thomas. This picture suggested that there are moments when the Australian landscape demands to be met on more basic terms and not necessarily translated comfortably into art. From September 23 to October 17
Street Photography Abides - Ever Drawing the Lens
Photographer Katrin Koenning www.obsc uraphotos.com recently noticed there was a strange space in a Melbourne street. "I came across this place in the (Melbourne) CBD where light reaches it directly for only twenty minutes a day, around lunchtime. During these few minutes a transformation happens - faces are illuminated, dust twirls through rays of sun, cigarette smoke becomes an almost glistening silver blue against dark buildings." This was Koenning's cue to begin a series of observations that explored the merging of private and public personae. "It's a 'mis en scene', a theatre stage on which people become my protagonists for an instant. Here, every minute detail counts ... everything ordinary turns into something extraordinary, begging me to have my eyes wide open." Her spontaneous, graphic observations have become part of an exhibition on street life THIRTEEN:TWENTY LACUNA with two other photographers, opening in London next month as part of Right Here Right Now - Exposures in the Public Realm - at the Front Room Gallery in Clerkenwell, London. More information on this exhibition can be found at www.troikaeditions.co.uk
The Plywood Violin Returns
What is it about the melancholy songs sung by Leonard Cohen? http://www.leonar dcohen.com/bio.html If they were judged on the range of his voice - minimal - success would have been elusive. However, Cohen's words carry poetic resonances, that, like other song-poets such as Neil Young, endure. Peter McMahon has created a disparate exhibition celebrating Cohen's influence which is on display at 88 George Street, Redfern. The Plywood Violin uses everything from photography to collage to pay homage to Cohen. "We have commandeered some Cohen-esque themes," says McMahon, "Saints and Sinners, Love, Longing and Loss." Paul Mallam's photograph "Hallelujah", (pictured) named after one of Cohen's most recorded songs, seemed particular appropriate. In this sombre picture, Mallam has cast a nude female figure - surely Cohen's familiar muse - into the darkness that lies beyond two luminous columns. Artists contributing to Plywood Violin include Lewis Morley, Therese Kenyon, Jan Fieldsend, Jack Frawley, Marie McMahon, , Peter McMahon (pictured) Sue Pedley and Jeff Stewart.
Until September 26 at 88 George Street, Redfern
Up Close at Heide & Wolfgang Sievers at UniSA
The middle of September has seen an explosion of important exhibitions around Australia. From the four Australian and International artists featured in Up Close, at Heide Museum of Modern Art http://w w w.heide.com.au/in Melbourne, to a soon to open, posthumous look at the muscular vision of industrial documentary photographer Wolfgang Sievers (1913-2007) (pictured, above, his iconic Vickers Gears image) at the University of SA http://www.unisa.edu.au/hawkecentre/KerryPackerCivicGallery/current_exhibitions.asp#Wolfgang in Adelaide.(works are for sale to raise funds for the Graham F. Smith Peace Trust Inc., a humanist organisation which Sievers supported) Other exhibitions, like Up Close at Heide, are necessarily more massive, featuring the combined visual output of photographers Carol Jerrems, Larry Clark, Nan Goldin and William Yang. This selection of pictures, sensitively curated by Natalie King, explores social landscapes of flesh and emotion to which each photographer has courageously (or perhaps, helplessly) addressed their deepest feelings. If sentimentality is the Achilles Heel of art then these four photographers banish such thoughts forever. Looking over the tragically short life, and career of Carol Jerrems (1949-1980) it is clear there was never a soft aesthetic to her art. From her beginnings (a telling self portrait on the endpapers of the substantial Up Close catalogue shows a vigilant, confident young woman with a wide mouth and large, soft eyes wearing a badge stating "you're among equals") Jerrems well understood the changing nature of her times. During her life, suggests Up Close's editor and curator, Natalie King, Jerrems became "the impassioned photographer of social relationships in an era of free love, youth, beauty, violence and intoxication," capturing, adds King, "tender connections ... enacted before her camera." The most famous of these, "Vale Street, 1975" (pictured, right) shows a partially nude young woman standing before two bare-chested youths. The woman's direct gaze to camera seems as opaque as the Mona Lisa - and measurably cooler emotionally. The two youths present very differently from each other, with the heavily tattooed young man on the right of the picture staring with rough intimacy, deep into the lens of Jerrems' humble Pentax Spotmatic SLR. On the left, his companion's body language seems less assured as the youth rests a hand on his hip and lowers his gaze. I always saw "Vale Street 1975" as essentially a documentary image but curator King tempers this thought by showing revealing sequences from Jerrems' proof sheet of the shoot. It soon becomes clear this was a subtly managed event in which each of the three subjects were complicit with Jerrems in ways of offering themselves up to her lens, culminating in the iconic, eighth to last frame Jerrems took. Carol Jerrems also produced, during this period, another remarkable portrait which personified the changing nature of Australian women. In her composed, light-dappled 1976 observation of film-maker and unionist Lynn Gailey, (pictured, left) Jerrems effortlessly reflected her subject's intelligence, confidence and beauty. Up Close also features prominently signature works by American photographers Larry Clark and Nan Goldin. No one has photographed the young with more intimacy than Clark (pictured, above left) and Goldin's celebrated documentation of being personally abused (The Ballad of Sexual Dependency) remains as bleak and eloquent as ever. Australia's William Yang contributes a series of unblinking observations of another sexual revolution, from an equally turbulent era, (pictured, right) but which chronicled what King calls "the intimate world of his particular social milieu, Sydney's gay and inner city culture : drag queens and flamboyant parties." Up Close, says King, mines "the emotional depths of friends, lovers and family ... (providing) an empathetic close-up glimpse into semi-private worlds (amplifying) the emotional tenor of their times." If one ever needed a reason to visit that most inclusive of Australian cities, Melbourne - Up Close is it. Not to be missed.
Until October 31
A Landscape Like No Other
British photographer Tim Rudman sees Iceland (pictured, above - under the Aurora Borealis) as a coiled spring. "Its volcanoes will erupt again (within) our lifetime. The whole fault-line running through the country is like a time bomb. The country has a strong, omnipresent "middle earth" feel to it." In Iceland - An Uneasy Calm at the Meyer Gallery www.mey ergaller.com.au Rudman explores the light and space of this delicately poised, remote 'end' of the earth. Using conventional, film-based photographic technique, Rudman conveys the eerie beauty of this northern European nation using only B&W, which he believes "removes possible distractions that colour can introduce - reducing landscapes to ... form, texture, light and tone."
From September 29 to October 24
Kerry Dundas 1931-2010
It is with sadness that I note the passing of photographer Kerry Dundas on August 10. (pictured, right with Sandy Edwards L, and Lewis Morley, at photographer Ian Dodd's 70th birthday at Faulconbridge, NSW in 2007) As a pioneer of documentary photography in Australia, Dundas was as much at home photographing massive steel structures (he once worked with Max Dupain, after all) as people. His portraits of Australian artists such as Godfrey Miller (pictured, left) were as remarkable for their subtle use of naturalistic lighting as their revelation of the subject's character. Born in Sydney, Kerry Dundas became interested in photography at school after which he joined Monte Luke's portrait studio, gaining experience in more commercial fields. Dundas was one of the Six Photographers who had their influential exhibition at David Jones Art Gallery in 1955. In 1958 Dundas travelled to Britain where he successfully worked as a photojournalist for the Sunday Times and Observer newspapers. He returned in 1967 and was appointed as the photographer for the Art Gallery of NSW. His photographs are represented in most state art galleries.
The Modest, Poetic Vision of Jill Crossley
I first encountered Jill Crossley in the early 1960's when she worked as an assistant to Sydney photographer Robert Walker (1922-2007) processing and printing the fine black and white photographs he took of his main two subjects: Australian Artists and performance in Sydney theatre. Crossley was a supremely competent printer and went about her work for Walker with great diligence. Now 81 and retired, this tenacious, talented photographer continues to pursue her photography by exploring the Australian landscape. As Crossley no longer has access to a darkroom in which to use her classic B&W technique, she now works in colour (pictured). Her latest pictures, entitled "Grounded", are on exhibition at the Kerrie Lowe Gallery www.kerrielowe.com Crossley's colour images are simple, affectionate homages to nature, devoid of any overt ambition to impress. Instead she uses her camera to marvel at nature's diversity - discovering what she refers to as "the wondrous manifestation we call the natural world" photographing everything from small insects suspended within the bush - to the more organic forms encountered within the stone boulders that lie scattered throughout remote areas of the Hunter Valley - where Crossley's pictures were made.
Until October 5
ART FOR GOATS?
When I heard about this exhibition at the Gallery Cats Studios, Brookvale, I initially wondered whether my leg was being pulled. Not so. Tony Peri, a dedicated Primrose Park Photography member http://ww w.primrose-park.com.au/Photograp hy/gallery.html who enjoys exploring such arcane printing methods as making Bromoils(pictured, left) has mounted an exhibition - part of a group show - to raise money for OXFAM. 30% of print sales will be donated to buy appropriate animal stock (such as goats) for needy families in Malawi, Africa. Peri's familiar bromoils (pictured, left) will be shown together with his less well known, but powerful infra-red landscapes (pictured, right) made using an ancient Rolleiflex. For more information go to www.artforgoats.com
IMAGE/TECH
Things are getting interesting in the digital ultrazoom camera category. Until now,Fujifilm's remarkable Finepix HS10 (pictured, left) held sway with its amazing 30X Zoom and a host of other features including a panorama mode and manual, yes, manual zoom control. The camera was, of course, also capable of shooting HD video. Ted's Cameras http://www.teds.com.au/ currently sell the Fuji Finepix HS10 for $579.95 Now Canon www.canon.com.au/has stepped up to the plate to challenge Fuji with their PowerShot SX30IS camera with a 35X Zoom, (pictured, right) which starts at its genuine wide-angle setting of 24mm(equivalent) and finishes at 840mm ultra telephoto. With a 14 megapixel sensor, image stabilization, HD video capacity and Ultrasonic autofocus, surely these cameras will provide universal picture-taking for many amateur and semi-pro photographers. More later on this trend. Canon's camera is so new they have not yet announced their RRP.
Copyright 2010 Robert McFarlane www.robertmcfarlanephotos.com

3D's Future, Rolling Stones Arrive, Ken Duncan Speaks Out, Josef Lebovic in Kensington, Outback Roadside Shrines & How Leica Saved Their Jews

2010-08-27T02:12:00.000-07:00

LATE NEWS: MGA announces the finalists for $25,000 Bowness Prize
Australia is rapidly becoming a centre for lucrative photographic competitions attracting talented, competitive, artistic photographers. Monash Gallery of Art have just announced the 34 images that have been selected by the judges (from 2,000 photographs submitted by 473 entrants) for the $25,000 William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize - including (pictured left) Darren Sylvester's "Untitled, from the series, What happens will happen" The winning finalist, to be announced on September 23, will be awarded the $25,000 William and Winifred Bowness non-acquisitive Photography prize. Photography is, as ever, a major part of Monash Gallery of Art's program, with a forthcoming exhibition "More Seeing is Not Understanding" by Ponch Hawkes, (Untitled 1, 2008, pictured, right) opening on September 11. This MGA exhibition will be opened my Dr. Melissa Miles, lecturer in Theory of Art and Design, Monash University. Hawkes will offer her own thoughts in a talk she is giving on September 18.

Readers interested in seeing works selected as finalists in the Bowness can find them at http://www.mga.org.au/bowness-prize/images
The Future According to Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner"
When I watched Ridley Scott's moody, prescient 1982 sci-fi epic "Blade Runner" again recently I was struck by how this film's story contained now familiar contemporary technology resonances. Flying cars (pictured) may not have eventuated, but one scene, in which the main character, detective Deckard, (the Blade Runner of the film's title) examines a small photograph which he has inserted into a computer of some kind (the device is barely visible, with only its screen showing). The technique for investigating the image is, however, now technically feasible. Not only does Deckard, played with a bleak truth by Harrison Ford, instruct his computer to scan the image in minute detail, he does it verbally, through a form of voice activation, now known to be one of Microsoft's intense obsessions for the future. As the computer allows this image to be progressively cropped and magnified on-screen (pictured, left) to Deckard's voice commands, Ridley Scott (and presumably Philip K. Dick, whose novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" inspired the film) quietly injects another visionary touch to the scene. Deckard asks the image to go to extreme magnification. As elements within the scene enlarge, we abruptly realise he is not only seeing details before him in great detail, he also can see behind certain elements within the picture, enabling him to subsequently identify a suspect (of whom he then verbally orders a hard copy image) This moment, though brief, reveals Ridley Scott at his visionary best in 1982, suggesting future imaging may well go beyond holography, and literally see around corners. Considering the recent impact of 3D, not only in the creation of Avatar, the most successful motion picture in history (and the prime source of NEWS Ltd's surprising billion dollar-plus profit) but also the increasing numbers of new digital cameras that now incorporate this technology into their still and video imaging, this moment proved truly arresting.
LET IT BLEED comes to BLENDER GALLERY
Blender Gallery's Director Tali Udovich is again exhibiting photographs of some of the legendary performers who have created the soundtracks to our lives. After her recent exhibition exploring Bob Dylan's early career, Blender Gallery are exhibiting Ethan Russell's photographs of the Rolling Stones taken in arguably their prime - when touring the United States in 1969. It is hard, now, to look at Russell's colour image (pictured, left) of the Stones at at their free concert at Altamont Speedway, without thinking beyond the ominous visible presence of Hell's Angels performing security - to the murder that unfolded in the turbulent crowd. Mercifully there are lighter moments from Russell, such as a boyish Mick Jagger with Richards (pictured, left) backstage, wearing costumes that seem to anticipate the Las Vegas excesses to come from Elvis. Russell also presents us with a droll image "Patience Please" showing Keith Richards (pictured, right) leaning against a water cooler above which an earnest U.S. government poster warns of the excesses of drugs. LET IT BLEED, Ethan Russell's massive, critically acclaimed 420 page signed, limited edition book (almost A3) is also available for purchase for the duration of the exhibition - which can be previewed online by clicking on http://www.blender.com.au/let-it-bleed/ Until October 5
Photographers Working in Public Are Angry ...
Well known Australian photographer Ken Duncan, master of the explicit panoramic image (Bondi Beach - pictured, above) is irate. The difficulties of making photographs in public - even documenting an Australian place like Bondi Beach or Uluru means that there are now severe restrictions on photographers. Permits are required at many beaches such as Bondi and even public places such as the Sydney Opera House. (pictured, by Ken Duncan) As a result Duncan has organised a rally for photographers on this coming Sunday, August 29th, coincidentally near the Opera House. "It is bureaucracy gone mad!" says Duncan, "I can't take photographs of my daughter at her swimming carnival without being approached by some official who thinks I might be a criminal. If I am photographing in a National Park and they (the Rangers) deem you're looking professional they will approach you. It's very uncomfortable. If you get a beautiful photograph and you exhibit it and someone buys it - you've broken the regulations - you're a criminal!" I mention to Duncan that similar restrictions exist in France about photographing in public. "Henri Cartier-Bresson would turn in his grave!" says Duncan, adding that in Australia, "If Max Dupain (pictured right, in 1981, preparing a barbecue at his Castlecrag home for Axel and Ros Poignant) went to that beach to photograph "The Sunbaker" today, he’d need a permit. Just the fact that you've got to ring up and get a permit to even go down (to a beach). How do you know when the sun’s going to rise - when that magical moment is going to happen? It's just bureaucracy gone crazy."
Photographers are the environment's best friend maintains Duncan, adding, "we're the ones whose photos were used to annex these areas and turn them into National Parks. Now all of a sudden we're commercial photographers and there to steal from nature. (Arts Minister) Peter Garrett has just been shocking on this ... he keeps trying to turn it into an indigenous issue ... instead this is about the rights of photographers (and artists too) to be able to photograph and tell their stories - to allow them to sell (them) in order to stay alive to do it! What we're saying is this: if a photographer is having no more impact than the general public on the environment (then) there should be no permits or fees required. End of story." ozphotoreview intends to approach Arts Minister Peter Garrett, despite these fragile political times, for his perspective on this issue, and will post his answer as soon as possible.
Josef Lebovic Gallery Moves to Kensington
One door in Paddington has closed for this distinguished Sydney photography and print gallery, with another, wider door opening in Kensington. After many years in an elegant, though compact building at the corner of Paddington and Cascade streets, the Josef Lebovic Gallery www.joseflebovicgallery.com has relocated to 103a Anzac Parade, on the corner of Duke Street, Kensington. With two floors of increased gallery space in a building that was formerly a bank, this could mark a change away from Josef Lebovic's familiar, dense displays of works arranged as classic 'Salon' hangs. Despite extensive renovations to his new premises, photographic works from the current exhibition "Australian & International Photography" can still be viewed, but by appointment only, at the gallery's new Kensington address. Among many outstanding works is Henri Cartier-Bresson's classic 1944 portrait of a great French artist just entering the last decade of his life, Henri Matisse (pictured, above) visibly frail, wheelchair-bound but firmly clasping a white dove with his left hand and continuing to draw. This picture is also full of irony considering Cartier-Bresson had just escaped from German wartime imprisonment and travelled across France to reach Matisse - as clearly as this dove had left its open cage. An interesting commentary on this and other Cartier-Bresson pictures can be found on the following blog http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/tag/henri-cartier-bresson/ I once advised a friend who asked, "if you could buy one Henri Cartier-Bresson photograph - apart from his famous leaping man behind the Gare St. Lazare railway station - which would it be?" I suggested this Matisse portrait, which they bought and have never sold, despite its value steadily increasing in following years. Ansel Adams's magnificent vista of "The Moon and Half Dome, Yosemite" is here (pictured, above right) as well as an equally planetary landscape by the late David Moore (1927-2003) http://www.davidmoorephotography.com.au/ "Sydney Harbour From 20,000 feet, 1992". Moore's other sculptural masterpiece, "Sisters of Charity, Washington DC, USA, 1956" is also present (pictured, left) in Lebovic's selection. Other welcome surprises in this display were two sensitive artist portraits by Kerry Dundas - of John Passmore in 1970 and an earlier 1948 observation of Godfrey Miller. The real surprise however, was Roger Scott's restrained portrait (pictured, right) of the influential photographer Carol Jerrems (1949-1980) made in Paddington in 1976. Fine portraits of Jerrems do exist, such as those by the late Rennie Ellis (1940-2003) http://www.rennieellis.com.au/ but it was refreshing to see this quiet, simple observation of the melancholy photographer, made by her friend and B&W printer, Roger Scott, perhaps better known for his eloquent street photographs.
I should add, in a spirit of full disclosure, that I am represented by Josef Lebovic Gallery.
Australian roadside memorials.

Glenn Campbell www.glenncampbellspictures.com is an accomplished Australian photojournalist, based in Darwin, equally at home documenting serene Aboriginal traditional owner Yvonne Margarulla standing in the idyllic Kakadu landscape or Prime Minister Julia Gillard (pictured, below) enjoying a lighter moment on an Australian Navy patrol boat. Recently Campbell became fascinated with the number and variety of memorials created by the side of highways (pictured) where loved ones had perished in road accidents. "After (covering) Bali in 2002, (when) it was ... my first exposure to real grief, I cut loose a bit ... hit the road, went on a long drive ... to NSW and Queensland. I'm at home in the desert. I was born in Mt. Isa. I did the same thing when I came back from Pakistan - I just found myself not moved to photograph anything for a while." The first (memorial) Campbell remembered noticing was on the road to Kangaroo Valley. "It was a gum tree with five crosses on it and there were messages scratched into the bark ... with posters and a letter stapled to the tree." Despite having spent time speaking to people who had lost loved ones (when he covered the Bali Bombing) Campbell had never thought about photographing roadside memorials in his work as a press photographer. "(But) these were young guys with the oldest twenty two." Campbell continued, "I (now) think these are sites of real importance." When I remarked to Campbell that roadside shrines suggest the democratisation of grief, he agreed. "It says a lot about the place of grieving in (our) society, which is not so much in the cemetery any more. It (grief) leaves people adrift. I couldn't have done this body of work without talking to the people who had set up these memorials. I wanted to give voice to this great anonymous grief that is permeating the country. Everyone ... is only one or two steps removed from road trauma." Campbell's "Shrines" exhibition is currently showing in the Supreme Court in Darwin until August 28. When I ask why at the Court? The photographer simply answered, "I needed somewhere big and somewhere quiet," adding, "my motives are pure ... I've learned a lot about myself. Ultimately these places are about love."

How Leica protected their Jews
Bob Davis http://www.bobdavis-photographer.com/ an Australian photographer based in Hong Kong, China, forwarded this remarkable story of the behaviour of the Leitz family, of Leica camera fame, in Germany in the face of the coming holocaust.
"The Leica (pictured, left and at right, Henri Cartier-Bresson's first Leica) is the pioneer 35mm camera. It is a German product - precise, minimalist, and utterly efficient. Behind its worldwide acceptance as a creative tool was a family-owned, socially oriented firm (founded in 1869) that, during the Nazi era, acted with uncommon grace, generosity and modesty. E. Leitz Inc.,designer and manufacturer of Germany 's most famous photographic product, saved its Jews. And Ernst Leitz II, the steely-eyed Protestant patriarch who headed the closely held firm as the Holocaust (pictured, below left, trains arriving at Auschwitz-Birkenau) loomed across Europe, acted in such a way as to earn the title: "The photography industry's Schindler." As soon as Adolf Hitler was named chancellor of Germany in 1933, Ernst Leitz II began receiving frantic calls from Jewish associates, asking for his help in getting them and their families out of the country. As Christians, Leitz and his family were immune to Nazi Germany 's Nuremberg laws, which restricted the movement of Jews and limited their professional activities. To help his Jewish workers and colleagues, Leitz quietly established what has become known among historians of the Holocaust as "the Leica Freedom Train," a covert means of allowing Jews to leave Germany in the guise of Leitz employees being assigned overseas. Employees, retailers, family members, even friends of family members were "assigned" to Leitz sales offices in France , Britain , Hong Kong and the United States. Leitz's activities intensified after the Kristallnacht of November 1938, (pictured, right) during which synagogues and Jewish shops were burned across Germany. Before long, German "employees" were disembarking from the ocean liner Bremen at a New York pier and making their way to the Manhattan office of Leitz Inc., where executives quickly found them jobs in the photographic industry. Each new arrival had around his or her neck the symbol of freedom - a new Leica. The refugees were paid a stipend until they could find work. Out of this migration came designers, repair technicians, salespeople, marketers and writers for the photographic press.
Keeping the story quiet
The "Leica Freedom Train" was at its height in 1938 and early 1939, delivering groups of refugees to New York every few weeks. Then, with the invasion of Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, Germany closed its borders. By that time, hundreds of endangered Jews had escaped to America thanks to the Leitzes' efforts. How did Ernst Leitz II and his staff get away with it?
Leitz, Inc. was an internationally recognized brand that reflected credit on the newly resurgent Reich. The company produced range-finders and other optical systems for the German military. Also, the Nazi government desperately needed hard currency from abroad, and Leitz's single biggest market for optical goods was the United States. Even so, members of the Leitz family and firm suffered for their good works. A top executive, Alfred Turk, was jailed for working to help Jews and freed only after the payment of a large bribe. Leitz's daughter, Elsie Kuhn-Leitz, (pictured, left) was imprisoned by the Gestapo after she was caught at the border, helping Jewish women cross into Switzerland . She eventually was freed but endured rough treatment in the course of questioning. She also fell under suspicion when she attempted to improve the living conditions of 700 to 800 Ukrainian slave laborers, all of them women, who had been assigned to work in the plant during the 1940s. (After the war, Kuhn-Leitz received numerous honors for her humanitarian efforts, among them the Officier d'honneur des Palms Academic from France in 1965 and the Aristide Briand Medal from the European Academy in the 1970s.)
Why has no one told this story until now? According to the late Norman Lipton, a freelance writer and editor, the Leitz family wanted no publicity for its heroic efforts. Only after the last member of the Leitz family was dead did the "Leica Freedom Train" finally come to light.
It is now the subject of a book, "The Greatest Invention of the Leitz Family: The Leica Freedom Train," by Frank Dabba Smith, a California-born Rabbi currently living in England.
Copyright: Robert McFarlane 2010 www.robertmcfarlanephotos.com